Stardust Fighters
by Vyudali
Summary: Before his space program would be shut down for good, America headed out on the Apollo 32 mission to explore for evidence of life on other planets. Half a year after his scheduled return and his country's oddly improving status, the nations plan a life-changing space expedition to find him or evidence of his demise. Rated T (for now) for future violence and mild sexual situations.
1. Chapter 1

**Synopsis:** Before his space program would be shut down for good, America personally wanted to taste adventure in the cosmos. As the first nation ever, he headed out with a cheerful wave and twenty astronauts on the Apollo 32 mission to explore for evidence of life on other planets. It's been half a year since his scheduled return, and while the nations want to confer his death, America's growing country and no evidence of a new personification prevents any conclusions. What is going on? The Nations decide to take matters into their own hands and set out to look for him on Apollo 33. Mission? Find America, or evidence of his demise.

**A/N:**_ So, this is my first (experimental) fanfiction and it will probably be really bad.  
_

_This story will have mild one-sided OC X America, but for plot purposes. This story is for story-telling only (mainly adventure, action, drama), not any real romance unless I get a good idea and decide to implement it for the sake of plot.  
_

_ Also, since 'Paint it White!' was anime-only, i plan to ignore that ever happened here.  
_

_I probably won't use accents…random foreign language phrases here and there, but I don't think I can pull off accents just yet._

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hetalia. Just the OCs in this fic._

* * *

Chapter 1:

20XX

_"I still don't think you should be taking such time off to go exploring barren wastelands."_

_"Aw, come on England! Can't I get one real adventure before my boss shuts down the space program for good? It took me so long just to convince him to approve this one mission, let alone allow me to go along!"_

_"I just don't think it's safe… Your technology has improved, yes, but anything could go wrong up there. You're not just risking your life, you know, but millions of your citizens' as well should anything go wrong."_

_"I know. I'm not that dense."_

_"I didn't say you were."_

_"It was totally implied and you know it."_

_"Alright, alright. I still think it's a bit unorthodox, though. Do you honestly believe you will find alien life up there? Any life you find could be thousands of miles from Earth and takes longer to get to than your ship can travel. You might have to turn back before you find anything at all."_

_"Well, at least I'll get to see space first-hand. During the Space Race with Russia, all I got to do was supervise with NASA and watch from a low-grade monitor as my astronauts stepped foot on the moon. When the Mars probe landed, it was basically the same, only with a better T.V. Watching isn't the same as experiencing, and I want to experience space. Besides, Tony got here okay. He's totally going to guide me through anything complicated."_

_"I understand your ambition, but- wait, who?"_

_"You know, my bestie, Tony? Alien? Likes to cuss you out all the time?"_

_"Oh, yes…that bloke. Well, if characters like him are what you want to find, I'm sure he's enough evidence to convince anyone."_

_"I'm not using him as evidence! They'll probably experiment on him!"_

_"Then you're going to find another unsuspecting, probably innocent, substitute?"_

_"No! It's not just about finding proof, England. It's about being able to communicate with them, too. If we find another species out there, maybe they'll hold the key to our problems, or we'll hold the key to theirs. It's like how you found me all those years ago. Didn't you feel that way when you sailed through sea in search of treasure and visiting different cultures? The new culture, remedies, ideas, wealth?"_

_"I-I see your point…but space is completely different! It's much more dangerous than the ocean. At least there is oxygen there."_

_"I'm sure back then you thought the same thing about the sea."_

_"Well-"_

_"Trust me England, this is just a step we have to take to keep our world growing. I'll have Tony guide me through any weird alien junk, an entire crew, plus great technology to gets us where we need to be. Who knows? We might find some aliens who want to form an alliance, and then we'll just keep our society growing until we're inviting other life forms into our cities- just like in Futurama! Don't you want flying cars and a Dr. Zoidberg as a friend?"_

_"I'm perfectly fine with Flying Mint Bunny, thank you."_

_"You're no fun. Does this mean I have your okay, though?_

_"…I suppose. Why do you need my approval?"_

_"Well, I just didn't want anyone to have any unease before I left. I know a lot of people were skeptical since having a nation go is really risky. I just wanted to calm people's nerves and say my goodbyes. You wouldn't believe how many nations were giving me good-well gifts! Russia was especially jealous, but he still gave me a good luck hug. Dude was a total bear."_

_"That's very…odd. Well, I assure you I support your decision to go, despite my unease. It's not every day a person, let alone a nation, gets to experience outer space firsthand. I wish you the best of luck, America."_

_"…Thank you, England. And hey, maybe I'll bring you back a weird friend! Alien-version of course. I'm not sure how alien-fairies would look like. Maybe something from Avatar? Floating flowers seem cool, right?"_

_"Prat."  
_

* * *

England walked in silence through a long hallway. His short blond hair shone in the early morning sunlight peeking through the six foot tall windows, and his thick eyebrows were tilted down in a worried scowl.

Today was the day the nations would decide America's fate, and it unnerved him how simple most of this was being handled. With one meeting, America; that blonde, loud, burger-loving, eccentric nation; would be presumed dead or alive. Just one meeting and his former-brother would be out of everyone's conversation topics, and his country changed forever.

Things just couldn't keep going on as they were, though. It had been six months since Apollo 32 was scheduled to return, but the spacecraft, astronauts, and America remained missing. During the first few weeks everyone assumed it was a simple delay caused by the unexpected obstacles in such a dangerous journey (perhaps the crew had to maneuver through an asteroid field? Maybe they actually met someone and had to stay a couple of days to make negotiations on an alliance? America probably wanted to stay up there longer and convinced his eager crew into succumbing to his demands). However, no one at NASA could come into contact with their ship. All traces of its presence had disappeared weeks before, leaving no evidence to assume the ship was even functional.

At first people panicked. Their nation was in deep space with possibly no way to return. How would they break the news to the president? They had a national emergency on their hands! Unfortunately, it soon proved that he was the least of the NASA scientists' worries. Once the nations obtained knowledge of the missing spacecraft, their negative attention became directed at anyone possibly responsible for the screw up. NASA employees dreaded any visit from nations for days until Russia stepped in to threaten anyone who was not NASA personnel with his faucet pipe. The nations eventually had to qualm their fury when they realized it would yield no positive outcome.

Three months after the scheduled return everyone saw a sign that clearly something was not right.

The United States of America was improving as a country. The economy was booming, the crime rate going down, poverty was close to nonexistent, and the people were happier than they ever were. Not only that, but the national debt was depleting from various exports and increase in money supply. China was baffled when almost one-fifth of the debt owed to him was paid back by the second month. At this rate, America would be debt free in less than a year. While normally this would be cause for celebration, China was receiving more money after all, instead it caused concern.

How could America be jumping back so quickly without the representative around? His boss was doing nothing special in his policies, yet the country improved day by day.

Eventually, the nations ordered a search of American lands for a new representative. As much as some did not want to admit their America was gone, it was not impossible that he reached his demise and a new country emerged from his ashes.

Months later, however, still no evidence surfaced that a new nation had been born was found.

America's death was slightly less of a possibility now. Did this mean he was alive somewhere? Trapped in an unknown planet with no way to communicate and reach help? Even he would realize how much everyone would worry should he not return soon. And if he was in some form of dire situation, wouldn't Tony help him or at least report back?

This led to England's current destination. All nations had agreed to meet in order to discuss America's missing status. In the end, though, whether he would be presumed dead wasn't really what the nations came to discuss.

The issue was what they would do should they decide to declare him _alive_.

Declaring him dead was easy; It would go down on paper and then his government would simply have to go from there. Canada might take up the responsibility of being the United States of America's representative until a new nation emerged. It certainly wasn't simple in retrospect, but it was definitely less conflict than what would be done if the nations wished to keep his survival a possibility.

A probe had been sent the first month in search of the spacecraft and, to everyone's excitement, a dust trail with material from America's ship was found among the small rocks two weeks prior to the meeting. Even if it wasn't definite proof that his crew survived whatever caused debris from his ship to end up there, NASA now had some form of trail to follow should they go out and look for the missing astronauts; one clue that, at the very least, set a path for them to follow. Now all they needed was the approval of another expedition. Considering their current situation, simply suggesting it angered the president. Their only hope was if the nations supported it. Only they could gather the funds their own government would not supply.

England was determined to convince anyone opposed to a rescue mission see the benefits- or at least what he assumed seemed like benefits to them. Honestly, he just wanted someone on his side. How could he live with himself knowing his former colony was lost in space not knowing whether he was alive or not? He wouldn't rest until he knew for sure of America's fate. Whether that meant learning of his demise, so be it. As long as he had closure.

England knew others felt the same way. Even if they didn't care for America on a personal level like he did, the fact that they knew nothing of his fate unnerved them. Everyone wanted a definite answer to their most important question: Is he alive?

"H-Hello, England." England snapped out of his thoughts when a hushed voice greeted him. He turned to see an almost spitting image of America, and while he deeply wished to believe it was him, six months was enough time to keep him from forgetting Canada once his much more attention-hogging sibling was out of the picture. In fact, he was one of his closest allies at this point aside from Mexico and America's micronation, Molossia. The two nations (and micronation) had both agreed to help him in convincing the others to find America. Family was very important to them, and they dearly missed their brother.

"Hello, Canada. How are you?" He said, trying but failing to put a sincere smile on his face.

"I'm fine. As good as I can be when I'm walking to a meeting deciding my brother's fate." England scowl returned. The air was grim for them. How could one not feel distaste having to openly discuss the fate of someone you held dear with others who possibly only came to confirm the use of his name in past tense? Every nation fought with each other, but only a select few stuck together despite their disagreements. The American brothers were one of those close pairs. Canada and America were very close, and while Mexico had many qualms with America, she still remained family. In addition, while Molossia was only a micronation, he remained a part of the USA and cared just as deeply for America as his other siblings. England, France, and Japan (for America at least) were of the few outsiders who crossed that family circle. To have one suddenly disappear affected them all.

Both nations looked forward, a silent few seconds passing between them before England spoke again,

"We'll convince them Canada, don't you worry. I may not be the Great British Empire any more, but I still have a few manipulation tricks up my sleeve. Plus some hearty blackmail I've kept in secret for just such an occasion."

Canada couldn't help but smirk at this. He expected nothing less from England.

"I know we will. Even if we can't convince them all, I'm sure we can convince enough to help fund the project. I'm prepared to fight like you guys always do if I have to!"

England couldn't help but smile at the usually shy nation's determination and grabbed the handle to the conference room door they'd reached only seconds before.

"Then let's give them hell."

* * *

Almost every nation was present for the meeting: the Latin, Asian, Middle Eastern, European, and even the micronations. How could they not? The matter discussed could very well affect their economy and international affairs. Not to mention everyone's opinion was required for this meeting. For once, everyone would be asked for their opinion rather than have to yell over loud others in attempt to even have the floor. It as an opportunity not to be lost. It was for this reason the nations willingly sat in silence as they listened to the three nations and micronation at the front of the room explain their plan of action.

The meeting had gone on for an hour, surprisingly productive, before people began to voice their concerns. Despite the doubt Canada, England, Mexico and Molossia (who'd arrived shortly after England and Canada) managed to counter any protest with a reasonable one of their own. Money? The funds of the combined nations involved would be plenty to cover it. Time? Majority of nations were in a time of peace and would not face trouble in spending a couple of months or so investing their resources in a space project. _Why should we?_ Once the mission was over, the three nations would team up with the United States to come up with some form of collateral for their services. Considering the U.S.' growing prosperity, it should be simple to do.

So far England, Canada, Mexico, and Molossia seemed to have convinced majority of the nations present to support a possible rescue mission. It was when the identity of the astronauts responsible for finding the lost nation arose that almost everyone erupted in shock. England had revealed he planned to go along with a small number of select nations and human astronauts—needless to say, a lot of the nations present were not taking the news well. It was quite the dangerous journey that no one felt the need to risk multiple of their kind for. As far as they were concerned, England (and anyone accompanying him) was a madman aiming to get killed.

"It's more likely he's dead anyway, so why bother?!" Cuba yelled over the now arguing nations. Almost immediately silence permeated the room. Everyone present had already mulled over the possibility that America was dead. Really, what were the chances he was alive? It was oxygen-less space! His journey was years too early, even with his technological advancement. America was an idiot for even attempting it.

Suddenly, a loud thud echoed in the tense atmosphere as Canada slammed his fists onto the table; his face was filled with malice aimed towards his friend. "He isn't dead!" He knew Cuba never got along with his more aggressive brother, but Canada also knew he was aware how much his brother meant to him despite their conflicts. How could Cuba be so heartless when he needed his support more than ever?

"Canada, lad, please calm down…" England, to Canada's right, said. Although he probably shared the same sentiments as Canada, really wanting to punch Cuba in the face, he was worried the nation's frantic actions could cause others who might have considered assisting in their cause go back on their decision. He understood his passion, but it was not the right way to handle such a delicate situation.

Canada refused to listen. "I am calm!"

"We don't think he's dead either, yeah?! How dare you say that! Who the fuck do you think you are?!"

"Si! America is not dead!"

Molossia and Mexico joined in, the ruckus of passionate siblings almost daring someone to speak out against them.

"No offense friend, but it seems you're too hysterical to suggest-"

"Enough!"

Everyone turned to Russia, surprised that the usually quiet, albeit intimidating, nation had spoken up. He dad been seated almost to the far end of the circular meeting table, listening intently to the meeting before the outburst. Russia turned to a now speechless Canada, a frown forming on his pale face. His eyes betrayed his calm exterior, showing the deep stress but also concern he had for the North American nation. His voice remained solid and determined, however. "I also do not believe America to have perished so easily. He is strong, I know, and his love for the cosmos possibly greater than mine. He would have found a way to survive- I know it."

Canada remained speechless, but his heart was practically soaring in happiness at Russia's words.

Russia took Canada's silence as a means to continue speaking and turned to everyone seated around the conference table. "Besides, I know for a fact that if it were anyone else, regardless of personal grudge or lack thereof, America would not hesitate to assist in bringing them back home."

And just like that Russia's smile was back as he turned to Canada once again. "Do not fret, comrade. We may not have gotten along sometimes, but America is my rival and friend. Sometimes, as I'm sure others would agree, I wish he would just disappear. Now that he has, surely we all realize the truth behind the saying: 'you don't know how much something means to you until it's gone.'" At this, he turned to Cuba with his childish smile, who flinched, and then swept over the other nations before returning them to the three leaders of their meeting at the front of the room. "I intend to fully support this mission. My boss has already agreed on cooperating, and we've acquired the assistance of the previous members of the Soviet Union." Suddenly the Baltics, Ukraine, and Belarus stood up, smiling (albeit a bit nervously aside from Belarus, whose only noticeable change in her features was a small smile gracing her lips).

"We intend to fully support searching for America's whereabouts- wherever that may be," Lithuania said. His smile was genuine, and it wasn't long before other nations whom previously felt too pressured to express their decision stood up.

"I also support this mission. My space station will be happy to lend their technology on your search!" This was China.

"I, as well. He is a great friend of mine, and I will not rest until I know he is okay." Japan.

"Ve, me too! My country isn't that big on space, but we do have our own program! I want to help!" Italy.

"You know i will assist. What kind of big brother would i be should i let Amérique stay in such dreary surroundings? It is simply uncouth of me as the country of love." France.

Soon Germany, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Sweden- even some of the usually less-involved nations like Romania and Monaco were showing support.

Cuba seemed to feel ashamed and stayed put, looking away from anyone's (especially Canada's) gaze as majority of nations exclaimed in excitement over their new objective: find America (and his crew, hopefully) through the void of space.

Canada felt tears well up in his violet eyes. He wasn't alone in this. He didn't have to go out alone, not knowing if he had enough supplies or the proper funds to build a ship good enough to travel the distance he might need to in search of his brother. No, he had his brethren and many nations willing to lend their resources on his search. He couldn't be more grateful.

England, Mexico, and Molossia shared the same sentiments, and the four nations at the front of the room embraced in a victory hug. Everything had worked out. Their plan was going to come true. They would find America!

Suddenly, someone spoke up: "So…who gets to go on the mission?"

The room silenced before erupting into arguments once again.

* * *

**A/N:** _Okay, I know six months is a bit short for space travel. Just assume, since I didn't say a specific time, America's space ship can travel much faster than your average rocket. It was the most advanced technology of their current time(whenever that is), after all._

_Plus, I'm not a huge sci-fi person as far as things like Star Trek and Star Wars go. I've seen the original Star Wars movies, although that was long ago, and only some episodes of Star Trek. Obviously, I'm not experienced in the space travel aspect so I'm just going by research material as I go along. Even then it's not much research since I tend to write this when I should be doing other stuff, lol._

_Great idea to start a Sci-fi fic, huh?_

_Nothing against Cuba. He was the only one i could really count on to be the 'hate America' douche to suggest leaving him up there. He'll be needed later on, i promise._

_Also, if anyone has a better title for me, suggest away. It took me an hour to come up with the mess i posted this under. ._.'_


	2. Chapter 2- Launch

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Hetalia.

* * *

_Astronauts, please prepare for take off. All spectators are asked to please step onto the yellow platform. For your own safety, refrain from flash photography until airship is in launch mode._

_Thank you and have a nice day. Astronauts, please-_

The sun was high in the crisp summer air and many murmurs of excitement rattled the NASA launch station swarming with enthusiastic spectators there to see the launch of Starship B-47: the Nation. It was the first, and probably last, high-tech space ship to launch from NASA's docks. Built in a matter of weeks by a very quick team of highly regarded scientists whose origins rained from America to the smallest parts of Asia, the craft was a thing to behold. Not only was it enormous, bigger than America's previous ship, but also sleeker in design and highly advanced. It resembled the commonly used rocket ships NASA had previously sent earlier astronauts into space with, but with various modifications.

The scientists who'd worked on it had poured all of their funds into every technological advancement, safety feature, and high-end design at their disposal into the spectacular vessel. Each side adorned a set of two wings, one above the other, to ensure double the standard power. If one became unusable, the other would take its place, and if for whatever reason the nations aboard required more speed, then they had the option to enable both. Under the ship was a half-circle that worked as both a vent and generator, built as a hybrid between a solar panel and wind turbine. Obviously, there was no wind in space, but scientists managed to built it so the solar energy from nearby stars would activate the turbine and form electric energy. In addition to this, there were various filters scattered throughout the ship that created oxygen; an invention that each scientist responsible was proud of. They ensured every single dollar, euro, ruble, peso, yen, etc. would not go to waste, and the result could satisfy their nation's needs on the mission they intended to use the spacecraft on.

Every nation's flag from around the world was painted on the ship's silver-blue parameter, leaving an inspiring ring and symbol of world cooperation to any Earth resident and extra-terrestrial that happen to feast their eyes on the large vessel. Everyone present was amazed by the technological innovation.

England was one of the few who wasn't, and it showed on his face as he and France walked past the swarm of bystanders to board the ship. "I knew I should have voted for 'World Fighter.' The only ones who get the reference are us. Every human here must be laughing at how corny our space ship is named," he grumbled. The air was hot and it was irritating his already nervous insides. Why did so much attention have to be brought the day they would leave Earth for who knows how long? Spectators had no idea how serious the situation really was. All they saw was a group of brave astronauts on their way to save lost souls, not their nations on a life-or-death scavenger hunt through a barren wasteland of lifeless fire and darkness.

"Oh, don't fret _monsieur_. It is only fitting, no? After all, it's not every day us nations get to embark on such a treacherous journey in lieu of what everyone probably sees is a sign of world peace. I, for one, am quite excited." France smiled and waved at a few girls looking their way from the platform.

England rolled his eyes. "I still don't see how you managed to get approved to join this mission. It's not like you have any interest in space travel. From what I remember, your country only had a few measly projects."

"Ah, that may be true, but my country happens to have the biggest budget for space innovation in Europe. It would be very rude to deny moi, France- Europe's biggest benefactor to America's daring rescue mission- the option to go on the very ship my country _notably_ helped create. Would it not?" France smirked and flipped his shining golden locks before he waved to more of the onlookers. He wouldn't deny that his interest in space travel was close to nonexistent, but as the country of love he felt a need to join on such an otherworldly adventure. After all, the stars were one of the most romantic things in his opinion. How could he not take up the chance to experience them up close? Well, perhaps not _too_ close, but enough to appreciate their beauty from a new angle. Besides, he as America's family as well. As irritating as the American could be sometimes, France still saw himself as a big brother to the burger-loving idiot. And anyway, space travel had its perks compared to, say, the military. During times of war, he always had to fight to keep his shoulder-length perfect hair from becoming a patch of grass on his head. At least in space he was allowed to look just as good in orbit as he did in gravity. Should he be concerned that it will take him far from home in an unknown environment? Of course, but France saw more of the romantic adventure side of things than any science. Why make such a unique experience depressing?

"_Oh come off it!_ Canada, Japan, and China donated more than you did! At least they have reasonable motives to go. What can you offer to this mission other than a reason to scare off alien invaders?" England smirked at his own joke and hurried on ahead before he could hear more of the annoying Frenchman's voice. Their departure would start soon, and he wanted to find Canada before that. Only family could say goodbye to family; it would only be fitting to bid their farewells to Mexico and Molossia together.

As much as they desperately wished to go, the South American sibling along with the micronation proved more useful on Earth. They would monitor the United States' status should anything go wrong; riots, protests, terrorist attacks, falling stock prices- anything to give a sign that America was still being affected by their lost personification- or that said personification was gone. It was, to their dismay, the only thing the two siblings could do with lacking experience in space research and travel. They had ensured England that they would do their best, however. While England and Canada could monitor for America amongst the stars, they would be right where America called home to welcome him back.

Without further delay, England rushed to meet his fellow nations and begin his search for Canada.

Still towards the end of the long walkway to the docking area, France had been quite insulted at England's remark, but held his tongue and stopped on his walk once he noticed the other nations approaching the vessel he'd be living in for weeks- perhaps even months. It truly a masterpiece of technological engineering, he wouldn't deny that. It was only then that his situation was finally sinking in- he was really doing this, wasn't he? His stomach felt light and the nerves began to kick in, making his spine tingle. He was going into outer space!

France was only one of ten select nations allowed to travel into space with a group of other thirty human astronauts. Including the flamboyant blue-eyed blond, England, Canada, Japan, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Estonia, Russia, and Belarus would be joining team 'Save America' (as one albino had unofficially announced at the end of their previous meeting). With the exception of Canada and England– whose connection to America and founding of the expedition landed them a spot in the mission from the beginning - every one of them had been chosen based on their involvement with the project and special ability to assist in the mission.

France, although had basically bought his way in, insisted his superior culinary skills could prove useful in any dire situation. Japan and Estonia were the mental strength and assigned head of technological monitoring of the ship's functions. Germany was head of the engineering team and – along with Sweden – would monitor ship repairs (as well as be muscle during possible missions on unknown planets). Russia would use his vast knowledge of space travel to assist England and Spain, the ship's former pirates in charge of navigation, in following the trail left behind by America's spacecraft. He was also muscle should they head into unknown alien territory. Belarus, to Russia's utter fright, had forced her way in after she refused to allow Russia leave Earth without her protection. To no one's knowledge, though, she cared about America seeing as she once lived under him after the fall of the Soviet Union. Everyone else may have forgotten she'd once been a little sister to him, but she had definitely not. While she did not have such good relations with him now, she did care just a..._small_ bit about his disappearance. Plus, she was quite stealthy. Joining her brother in combat would be no problem for her.

Finally, Canada would lead them all through their journey. Seeing as he was America's closest sibling, it was only natural he was at the head of every single action steering them towards his brother's whereabouts.

While the group searched amongst the stars, another group of nations and human scientists would assist them on the ground. The head of operations would be at NASA, but China, along with his siblings, would also monitor progress at some of his space stations. Even some European and Middle Eastern nations were at the ready in small research compounds spread throughout Europe should anything fail. They wanted to be as prepared as possible because together they were Apollo 33's lifeline. No one would be able to move on should ten more nations meet their demise at the hands of a simple lack of manpower.

At that very moment, Canada was glad his project had received such a large turnout. He stood proud with the rest of his rescue group, poised at the center of their lined forms on a platform in front of the space ship for the various cameramen recording the moment along with thousands, perhaps millions, of spectators who came to see a launch surely to be recorded in the history books. Apollo 33 would be a success- Canada just knew it.

Hesitation no longer stiffening his body, Canada arched his back and lifted his chin towards the sky. His eyes had evidence of oncoming tears of joy, and his smile was proud with excitement.

"Don't get cocky, now," a smiling England teased. He meant it as a playful jab, of course. He, too, was engulfed in the positive excitement he was sure everyone was feeling at that very moment.

France only laughed at England's playful remark. "I like his enthusiasm. This is a time to celebrate, _oui_?"

Sweden grunted in what everyone assumed was agreement considering his usually cold stare had a small trace of a smile forming.

"I think Canada has the right attitude," said Estonia, practically grinning like a child at an amusement park, at the far end of their line. "_Si_, I think so too!" A grinning Spain announced.

"Da, I think we should all become one at this moment. To please our audience," Russia suggested with the familiar smile he usually wore on his face. Instead of its usual sadistic intent, however, this smile held genuine sincerity towards his fellow nations. Germany didn't speak, but gave a silent nod in agreement to Russia's statement. Japan followed mimicked him with a small smile.

Normally, Russia's declaration to 'become one' would always send a shiver of fear down their spines, but the only emotion anyone could feel was a tightening of their chests in proud acknowledgment. So Spain, Belarus, Russia, France, Canada, England, Sweden, Estonia, Germany, and Japan (in their respective order on the platform) held their chins out, proud of their role in this historical moment. Belarus, who stood very close to Russia, seemed to be the most happy about their momentary joined forces for her eyes sparkled with a glee no one thought she possessed.

The astronauts standing on either side of the nations seemed to realize what was happening and straightened their poses as well. Everyone present could see they were one team on a mission; a mission all of them were proud to be a part of. So it was with a final wave to the many cameras that they boarded the launch compartment of their ship to prepare for the moment they'd all been waiting for.

Everywhere around the space station excitement was fresh in the air. It wasn't until the intercom came on did everyone finally shush in silent glee.

_Astronauts, prepare for launch._

This was it. _This was it!_

"This is it everyone," Canada said, deciding to voice everyone's exact thoughts.

All around the small compartment, a separate part of the grand ship intended to be for launches and re-entries into orbit, nervous glances were given across padded seats, blinking lights, and the dull murmurs of a jittery crowd outside. Almost everyone was shaking with anticipation, sweat beating down their foreheads. The silence was only broken by the sound of heavy breaths.

_T- MINUS TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN.._

_We will find him, we will find him, we will find him..._At this point, the small chant was all Canada could tell himself to calm his nerves. He had to tell himself none of their hard work would be in vain.

_...SIX.._

Russia was more nervous than he thought he would be. His cold fingers dug into the leather of his seat. This was the first time he'd ever live his dream of outer space and, despite it being a bit morbid, he silently thanked America for getting lost so he could experience his dream. _We're coming, comrade._

_...FIVE..._

Everyone strapped to a seat was having inner monologues to calm their nerves.

_I'll be back, wife._ Sweden internally told himself, thinking of Finland.

_I hope you're watching, Romano!_

_Bloody hell i'm freaking out._

_...FOUR..._

_Be calm, be calm..._

_I'll protect big brother._

_...THREE..._

_Italy and Prussia better not be trashing my house while i'm up there._

_...TWO..._

_This is so awesome but frickin' scary! Why did I follow him in here?!_

_We're actually doing this, aren't we?!_

_...ONE. 'The Nation' is now launching._

_God, that name is so CORNY!_

The ground shook under their feet as their aircraft began to speed across a long runway and away from the various spectators now taking pictures with their cell phones. They'd decided long ago an upward launch would cause too many vibrations, so their ship had been especially built to launch similar to an airplane, only using much more force to push the craft upward and into orbit. America's ship had been launched similarly and its success had been used as a reference for the nation's own.

The ship shook and everyone on board was having a minor panic attack. Why hadn't they tested their new ship beforehand? Why did they just now realize it could malfunction and kill them all now (temporarily for the nations, at least)? This was crazy!

Clouds, sky, more clouds, and then...nothing.

The entire process was so instantaneous it seemed no one had realized they'd left all three layers of the atmosphere until the autopilot spoke to instruct the astronauts to unlock the latch of their small compartment and enter the main area of the ship. No one realized it was over until the few brave souls who decided to open their eyes (majority didn't realize they'd closed theirs in the first place) looked out of the rectangular window in the room into a black abyss sprinkled with mystical, shining light and a large, glowing Earth staring back at them.

* * *

The room was brightly lit and white as pure snow, yet no feeling could be absorbed through it. The entire space had been quenched of emotion and all it was now was a tool to place objects in. This room in particular only held one object of importance, but it lay asleep inside a clear glass pod on the far end of the rectangular room. Automatic doors interrupted the deaf silence and slid open on the opposite side, allowing a petite robed figure to step into the room and head towards the pod.

The figure stopped beside the pod and smiled down at the sleeping figure inside. It spoke in a voice soft and silky and sounded as pure as the stars outside,_ "It is time to rise and shine, America."_

* * *

**A/N:** I just graduated high school! As Valedictorian, no less. Well, technically graduation's tomorrow, but yesterday was the last day of school. I wanted to get this done then to celebrate, but things came up.

Anyway, thank you to those who followed and reviewed! I'm so glad people actually want to read more of this. I'll gladly continue if people read. I'm going to try to update once a week, but if not - well...feel free to hate my cruddy timing.

Some quick notes to defend my terrible writing:

-The name was because i couldn't think of anything better. I am pretty uncreative when it counts, apparently.

-There is wind in space- in solar energy, hence why a wind turbine won't work. You'd need something to absorb the solar energy, and the first thing i thought of was a solar panel. Logical or not? No idea; this is fanfiction. I'm just assuming the minimal science i described in this chapter is enough to deter anyone from asking me about the mechanics of their ship. It absorbs energy in space to generate their power, basically. The oxygen thing i'm not getting into. I've taken college chemistry and, trust me, it would take an essay to explain how that would work.

-Yes, according to Wikipedia (probably not a good place to research) France has the largest budget in Europe for their space program. It's in the billions i believe.

-Why the nations i chose? I wanted to be as broad as possible. I don't want to leave characters out, so i got one from almost every 'clique' so the majority can enjoy this story. Unfortunately, that also means i had to choose based on logic. I can't have Italy there because that would make no sense... So, ahem, yes. I would have made them all join, but that would have been too much. I can already see writing ten is going to be tough.

Next chapter is where everything starts so i hope to see ya'll there! (Metaphorically)

What i've learned writing this chapter: Intros are a pain in the arse. I'm ready for action!

**A/N2:** I messed up, sorry! I included China without noticing, but unfortunately he is NOT part of the rescue group. I think i wanted him in there, but eleven was a weird number so i decided not to. It was either him or Estonia, and Estonia is needed for something later, so...sorry China!

To make up for it i will be using him later on. I promise almost every nation mentioned will get a spot light at one point.


	3. Chapter 3- Disaster

**A/N: **So i went back and read Chapter 2 and realized i made a mistake by naming China as part of the ten nations on the mission. Sorry! Estonia replaced him in the end because i need him for something. China will have lime lights in this story, though. This chapter, for instance! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or its characters.**

* * *

"It's beautiful...," Russia whispered to no one in particular. He was the first to express his awe at the sight before him. He could almost not believe he was drifting through outer space; amongst the stars, the cosmos, the galaxies, the planets- and possibly other types of lifeforms. He was convinced someone had knocked him out during their meeting and he was simply imagining the beautiful sight before him in a dream. Perhaps he was simply disoriented from the horrible experience that was takeoff? Were hallucinations always this mesmerizing?

Soon everyone was knocked out of their shock and took notice of their new surroundings through the one window in their compartment. Every one present was wide-eyed and could not look away at the sight before them. Was Earth always that bright and perfect? It was much drearier from the ground, but drifting through orbit gave them a completely different view of the planet they called home.

The sight was so beautiful, Russia could almost feel the tears welling up in his lavender eyes. He was definitely not alone, for many nations and human astronauts began to rub their eyes. Something about seeing their home planet so stunningly bright, surrounded by various stars and other beautiful particles of their galaxy had everyone in stunned silence and giving serious consideration to the meaning of life.

That is until a loud "YO! SNAP OUT OF IT!" made everyone jump almost three inches off their seats and twirl their heads around in search of the perpetrator who'd ruined the moment.

Prussia, to everyone's shock, stood at the very back of their compartment, grinning like the buffoon everyone assumed he was. His white hair shone thanks to the light streaming through the window, and his red eyes were sparkling in glee. Germany was the first to come free of his shock and his face contorted in rage. Why on _Earth_ was his brother here?!

Prussia ignored his brother's obvious turmoil and waved at him, same grin mocking Germany as he battled with himself on whether he should stay calm or throw his older brother out of the window. He was about to ask what he was doing here, but England beat him to it.

"How the hell are you here, wanker?!" Prussia simply shrugged and chuckled.

"I snuck on, obviously. What, you thought you could go up into space without my awesome self? Ha!" His hands on his hips, he began walking out of the launch-compartment. "Let's get this mission started!" his voice echoed down the hallway.

Everyone was still frozen in shock before England sighed and spoke up.

"Alright, everyone out of their trance! We have to keep on schedule and leave orbit before we can make any ground of success on this mission. To your stations!" England instructed everyone as they reluctantly left their seats- and the magnificent view of Earth- to move through the doorway leading to the ship's main deck.

So far they were already faced with a complication. Germany, completely embarrassed at his brother's antics, went off to find him while the rest walked around the ship in search of the various maps posted on the walls that told them where their stations were located.

Unlike regular rockets, their ship was big enough to be modeled like a home they could walk in- similar to the various space ships seen on Star Trek rather than a long tube with small spaces to crawl (float) through. Hallways, bedrooms, closets; the works. They still had to float through majority of it until someone turned on the gravity for every section of the ship, but once that was done the only thing reminding them they were in space were the various buttons, lights, gadgets, and windows giving them a view of the outside. Otherwise, it looked like a futuristic house with various curved hallways and open rooms filled with machinery and homely furniture.

If they didn't know any better, someone could pretend they were on a very elaborate spaceship ride and not notice its reality. The scientists who'd built the ship wanted them to be as comfortable as possible, not having to adapt much to their new surroundings. Their mission was difficult enough without the need for excess training on floating through a cramped ship.

America's ship had been similar, but much smaller in comparison. His had been more like a boating ship, having to crouch in various rooms and use bunks rather than actual beds. The nations were lucky to not have that problem.

As the gravity was turned on in various rooms, people roamed the ship. Some explored, but most looked for their stations in order to finalize the beginning of their mission. They needed to exit orbit, establish contact with the NASA (and various others) space station, then use the power thrusters to quickly make their way towards the 'scene of the crime.' Only then would their search for America begin.

The nations (sans Germany, who could be heard scolding Prussia in some other room) and about five of their human crew entered their room of operations through a sliding door (a fun gimmick one of the American scientists insisted on). It was very stereotypical for a control room. About the size of their meeting room, the front consisted of a large, curved, rectangular window that hovered over various stations containing control pads, levers, buttons, and monitors. Each station had a chair, which each human astronaut took and began messing with the controls. Soon the room was bathed in a white and blue glow as the monitors lit up to reveal the time, oxygen levels, ship functionality, and other updates. The window, once black, lit up to show the outside of their ship - mainly just faraway stars and a slowly rotating Earth to the right – while a mechanical voice signaled the activation of various programs and functions of the ship.

Canada took his place behind a large, silver podium placed at the center of the room and about two steps above the humans' stations. "Alright, turn on communications. Initiate contact with NASA, please," he ordered, his hands on the podium and looking very determined.

On either side of the podium were longer tables with similar controls and monitors to those at the front of the room. These each nation took a spot at, and they all waited for the deciding moment. Without communications, their entire mission would be jeopardized. It was vital their new equipment worked, less they become stranded as well. At this point, their biggest worry would be heading back for repairs should it not work. There was too much time to be wasted from that, so they prayed the monitors would show them what they wanted to see.

In a few seconds, the crew began to type things in, pushing various buttons and inputting coordinates. Not long after, a rectangular space in the form of light shone on the long window, blocking the view outside, and Mexico's wide, brown eyes blinked at them. She grinned and gave them a thumbs up. "_Muy bien!_ It works! _M__agnífico_! Hey, how does it look out there? Is it cool?"

"Very cool," Canada replied. He grinned at his sibling, completely relieved that he was able to see her despite being so far away. So far, so good.

The crew cheered, relieved that the system worked. Now came the next part.

Russia stepped forward and typed a few codes into the screen in front of him. "All systems are functional, Mexico. Do we have confirmation that you are receiving all of our signals?"

Mexico fumbled on the screen, her dark-brown curls blocking her face as she looked down at something on her desk. "All signals received. We have every record of your ship's position."

"What about China?" Someone announced connectivity processing and suddenly the screen split to show China and a blurred figure behind him, flailing like a mad cat. "It works! Aiya, Korea stop messing with that!" China left the screen before shortly returning with an irritated frown. His siblings seemed to be helping him quite well.

"I take it connectivity works on your side as well, China?" Russia teased. China huffed, "Yes. The other small stations scattered throughout Europe and Asia seem to be working as well. You are all on our radar."

"Perfect!"

Mexico giggled at their interaction. "We're ready when you are," she said, tucking a lock of hair behind her left ear.

Canada wasted no time in ordering everyone to their positions. He'd been reluctant to act as leader at first, but imagining his brother lost and alone somewhere amongst the stars was enough to motivate him to step up and uncharacteristically become the forefront of everyone's vision. "Alright. Prepare for acceleration! Uh...England, Spain, I need you both monitoring our position and target location." Both nations nodded and proceeded to stand above a large projected map on their table, concentrating on perfectly aiming their ship to land at their end-location. Canada figured he still needed work on his order-giving, but for now everyone seemed to be fine having him order them around. For once he was at the center of attention; the one everyone listened to. He could get used to this.

"Germany, I need you monitoring all ship functionality. Ensure it can take any hits and the force its about to be projected through. Sweden, follow his lead. Don't overlook any small imperfections." Both nations nodded and rushed towards another screen showing a blueprint of their ship's skeleton; its pipe system, engines, security system- all was listed. "Hey! What about me?"

"Prussia...eh, Prussia?" He'd forgotten the nation had snuck on. How was he supposed to deal with him? He hadn't expected someone to simply stow away onto their ship. Gah! "Help your brother. But DON'T mess anything up, eh?" He said, pointing a firm finger at Prussia, who simply grinned that annoying grin of his and moved behind his now irritated brother and an expressionless Sweden. Canada would have to deal with him later.

He turned to Estonia and Japan, who'd been quiet up until this point but looked ready for anything. "We know communications are working, but we still need to make sure it will work once this part of the trip is done, and to scan for any sort of trail left by America's ship not previously spotted by NASA. I want you two to work with the people for that. Is that okay?"

"Of course Canada-san."

"Sure thing Mr. Canada."

Every nation was busy now. All was left was to sit back and try to enjoy the ride. He'd never been in the engineering facility when the scientists had constructed the engines for the ship, so all he knew about what was about to happen came from the mouths of its inventors. _"We assume it will feel like being in a roller coaster," _they'd said. _"They're very powerful thrusters."_

Canada hoped they were _sturdy_ thrusters that wouldn't destroy the ship from the force or speed they caused. Or explode from too much power. God, why hadn't they tested anything beforehand? _Time and money are precious when you're a beggar_, Canada mused.

He was about to go give the signal to Mexico when Belarus appeared before him, making him cry out and a few stares come him way. He blushed and nervously asked Belarus what she wanted of him.

"What is my job on this ship?" Oh. He assumed she would just tag along with Russia. Everyone was too scared of her to really argue should she choose to simply lounge around. Canada was unprepared for this turn of events, but he made something up anyway. "U-um...you can go check on the other people aboard the ship, to see if they are buckled in. Once you're back we can start our journey." Belarus nodded and headed out of the room. The automatic door slid closed and Russia visibly slouched. Canada felt bad for the poor guy, but he had more important things to do than worry about Russia and his incest troubles.

Belarus returned fairly quick and everyone turned to Canada, who in turn nodded and faced Mexico on the large screen. "We're ready."

Mexico gave a silent nod and turned to someone at her side, then yelled out the order, "Activate acceleration program 35-D! Starship B-47: the Nation is exiting orbit!"

Chine mimicked her on his side to everyone behind him. Korea appeared for a second before giving a salute and running off somewhere.

"Alright!" The crew immediately turned their attention to their leader and Canada slightly flinched. He'd have to get used to that. How did his brother always deal with the multiple pairs of eyes on him? "Activate engine 1 and 3. Turn on thruster 4 and 6. Begin operation 'exit orbit'. Our mission begins now, everyone!" Immediately hands were on controls, some inputting numbers while others specific commands. Various beeps and sounds of loosening hatches could be heard around the entire ship as brand new engines and machinery was turned on for operation. It was music to every astronaut's ears. If it made a noise, that meant it worked- hopefully.

Mexico and China gave their okay on the screen. Soon China's screen disappeared, expanding Mexico's. She looked worried, but she knew her brother and the rest of his crew was probably more nervous than she was. It was best she stay strong for them all. After all, her own crew remained a lifeline that simply could not fail them.

"We wish you luck and, if everything goes right, we'll see each other again soon. _A__diós, hermano._" She smiled before the monitor cut off and the only thing anyone could see in the room was the countless stars they were about to rocket through.

At this point everyone had taken a seat and strapped themselves to it. Canada was the last one to do it, but once he did he gave the final order. "We're launching in 3-2-...1. NOW!"

An astronaut to the far left pressed a large red button and immediately the ship was propelled forward.

_Ship has excited orbit, _a machine-like voice announced._ Acceleration in 5- 4-_

"Everyone strapped in?!" Germany yelled. Various nods answered him.

"Wait. What are we doing? Where do I strap myself in?" Everyone's horrified face turned to Prussia who was standing at the back of the room looking slightly nervous, and most definitely NOT strapped to a seat. Before anyone could react, Germany bolted from his chair towards his brother. The intercom refused to wait for him, however.

_2- 1._

The ship bolted forward once again, only this time it did not stop. Prussia and Germany were smashed into a nearby wall, pressed into it and in midair while the ship zoomed at high-speed through the solar system. It would not stop until they passed Pluto and were a couple thousand miles out of the solar system. How long that would take was anyone's guess. The only thing the passengers of The Nation could see at this point were dots of light and the occasional giant sphere flying past them.

What seemed like eternity but was really about an hour and a half finally ended as the ship slowed to a slow glide and everyone strapped to a seat visibly relaxed. That had to have been the most awful roller coaster ride any of them had ever experienced. Immediately the nations rushed to check on Germany and Prussia, both of which had fallen rather harshly once the intense speed no loner held them up.

"Are you guys alright?" asked Canada.

"F-fine..," groaned Germany. He attempted to get up but soon fell back onto all-fours. Russia went to his side and helped him to his feet while France did the same for Prussia.

England was pissed and would have no sympathy for the white-haired former nation."What the bloody hell Prussia?! You both could have gotten killed! We _need _Germany for this!"

"Hey, no one told me what to do!"

"Can you blame us?! You weren't planned for this trip! How the hell were we supposed to know you were going to stow away?!"

"Well that's what you get for leaving the awesome me out of your rescue mission!"

"ENOUGH! Your yelling is not helping my headache!"

Canada sighed. It was going so well up until this. As leader, though, he figured he was in charge of setting order, so he coughed into his palm to gain everyone's attention.

"_Angleterre, _do not be so feisty."

"I am NOT feisty!"

Canada coughed louder but still no one paid attention. How he hated his fellow nations sometimes...

"Hey! We have more important things to do, remember?!" He practically screamed. To him, scream anyway. It was more of a loud statement to everyone else. Regardless, they all turned to Canada and nodded. Good.

"I need everyone to go back to their stations except for these two," he said, pointing to the Germanic brothers. "Someone take them to the infirmary and make sure they are not injured. We need to start looking for America and we can't fall behind schedule because of this." His crew obeyed, to his relief. Prussia was yelling something about how he wasn't a prissy who needed the infirmary, but Canada ignored him. Like he told himself earlier: he'd deal with Prussia later.

On his return to the room of operations he saw Mexico back on the screen with a mockingly (to him, at least) large grin on her face. "So how did it go?"

* * *

"It's so beautiful..."

"We _know_. Would you stop saying it, already? The awe wore off long ago."

"Yeah, seriously. I thought this was some amazing adventure you guys were leaving me out on. Turns out it's totally boring! This sucks!"

"I'm sure EVERYONE wishes you stayed on Earth, so why not do us all a favor and pretend like you did by shutting the hell up!?"

"Shut up, goddammit! I can't even take a nap without someone yelling!"

"How come he gets to take a nap?! I got hurt too!"

"You _caused_ his pain."

"How about we all take a nap? I could use a siesta."

"Didn't you have one ten minutes ago?"

"Oh, maple..." Canada let out an exasperated sigh from his podium. His spectacle-covered violet eyes were rimmed with exhaustion and irritation. His uniform, a skin tight two-piece black and marine suit with white cuffs and collar plus dual-color knee-high boots, was not helping his growing headache. They'd only recently changed into their 'official' Star Trek-inspired (damn fanboy scientists) astronaut suits, having abandoned their old clothing from the launch. To Canada, it was the itchiest thing he'd ever worn, and its tight spandex-like material did not provide any comfort. He had missed the fitting for their crafting, but he assumed they would get his measurements from previous suits he'd worn. Wrong was he, and now he was an uncomfortable team leader who looked like he was about to go for a jog (in his opinion). The suits were only the icing on the cake for his foul mood.

They'd been following the trail left by America's ship for days now, but still no sign of anything helpful in locating the lost nation and his crew. Japan and Estonia diligently searched for clues while Spain, England, and Russia speculated the path America's ship took before its disappearance. So far: nothing new.

Wandering through space was the only course of action they could really take at this point, but that was quickly proving to be dull and uneventful. The real only benefit to days of tranquility were Germany's recovery and a new plan to deal with Prussia. He'd been assigned as assistant busboy to France. He wasn't happy with the position, but no one cared at the moment.

"We have not found anything new, but rest assured our scanners are looking for even the faintest trace of his ship. We'll get back to you tomorrow, alright? Don't loose hope."

"I know, and thank you Mexico. We can't give up. We just can't." The monitor turned black and Canada released a tired breath from his chair. Even talking with Mexico did not lift his mood. At this rate they would be drifting for months before they would move one measly inch forward on their rescue mission.

Canada looked around and saw an equally depressed crew. If he felt useless simply monitoring them, he was sure they felt impractical when their hard work earned nothing. While they were ambitious the first few days, excitement fresh in their veins, his crew's enthusiasm had dwindled as the days dragged on without progress. His fellow nations especially were becoming irritated beyond belief in each others company- mainly thanks to Prussia. Canada figured, when the group was chosen, that he'd only have to deal with England and France's constant bickering and a frightening Belarus, but Prussia's loud presence worsened the already fragile order placed upon him. Prussia only reminded Canada of his brother, which worsened his mood.

How could one of the loudest nations on Earth disappear without a trace and leave not one hamburger wrapper to speak of? It didn't make any sense!

Canada's solemn thoughts were interrupted when he heard beeping and checked to see a blinking light accompanying the sound. "England, what's this light?" He asked, turning to the island nation currently face-first in a map of their solar system. England looked over from his position and raised a thick eyebrow. "I am not sure."

Russia walked to their side after overhearing their back-and-forth. His eyes widened upon seeing the light and pressed a button activating the intercom before immediately calling out, "Asteroid field! Engage shields at maximum! Everyone BUCKLE UP! We don't have time to steer clear of it!" Canada and England stared wide-eyed at the large nation before doing as told for their own safety. Everyone on board scrambled to find a place of security. Germany ensured Prussia was buckled to a seat before securing his own just as the room began to shake and the large window allowed a clear view of their doom.

Giant gray rocks hurdled past them, some briefly making contact and causing the ship to tremble before it disappeared from their field of vision and multiple similar rocks took their place. Every hit the ship took could be felt by everyone, and the intense screaming as a result of the chaos was enough to hurl anyone into a panic. The intercom's monotone _Engine one has been damaged _certainly did not help ease the tension.

Canada's stomach churned at what he realized: the impacts were causing damage to their ship.

Papers flew, chairs flipped, people who'd been unlucky to have not made it into a chair or safety handles were propelled from one end of the room to the other; it was pandemonium, and the only thing anyone could do was wait until it was over and hope the damage could be repaired and they'd make it out alive.

A particularly hard hit forced Canada to the back of his chair and his vision whitened. His head was spinning from the pain, and his hearing blurred. _Was that Japan screaming?_ The last thing he could discern before blacking out was another asteroid heading towards their ship and the muffled sounds of his crew members praying for their lives.

* * *

**A/N**: I have nothing against Star Trek or its fanboys.

We get to see America next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4- Armin

**A/N**: To the Guest reviewer- Don't worry your head on that, it's not important at this point. The launch was originally to be skipped and referred to as flashbacks mid-story, but I needed a way to introduce their spacecraft (really, the launch's only purpose) and that was the simplest way in my opinion. All you need is the image of the spacecraft and the knowledge that it works similar to something like the ships in Futurama. Because the technology is so advanced (not too advanced, but yeah) they don't really need launch calculations, just a set weight the ship can hold- which is currently more than what it is holding since they obviously need more room to fit America's crew.

As for the careful preparation: America luckily had this chance; the nations did not due to limited time. If they waited too long America would be far out of their reach, so they had to work fast and quite sloppy to get the project off its feet. The only thing they had to go on was the data from America's launch.

I'm sure every science nut is wanting to choke me for the bad logic in this, but like I said- i'm not a science person. I'm aware the science behind it is really bad.

Their ship is only important as a way of transportation at this point, though. Nothing more (unless I get an idea). I thought about skipping the launch altogether, actually. But I figured that would be bad built-up.

* * *

_America ran as fast as he could through the narrow corridor leading to the escape pods. Steam poured from various pipes, now useless in their position after being punctured and bended from the collision sending them towards imminent death. Were this any other situation, America would have simply forced the bars back together, but there was no time for that now when his ship's oxygen levels decreased by the second. America never saw the asteroid field coming. It seem to materialize from nowhere and, to America's dismay, was now causing critical damage to their ship. Repair was futile, so America ordered his crew to escape via small escape pods. Getting to them was proving difficult as the ship collapsed foot by foot, and the passageways available for escape decreased in number every minute._

"_Don't stop! Keep going!" America hollered while lifting a fallen comrade to his feet. His crew obeyed and turned a corner. America grinned from ear to ear at finally reaching the small, circular escape pods and wasted no time in dunking himself head-first into one. Three of his crew soon followed._

"_Is everyone aboard?!"_

"_Roger, sir!" Someone in the pod next to his answered. The doors closed, leaving a hummed near-silence to surround the pod and its passengers._

"_Alright! Laun- GAH!" America screamed as the ship rocked violently and fire engulfed the corridor. Vibrations from a nearby explosion jolted the escape pods, causing the astronauts inside to tumble out of their seats and painfully clash their limbs on the walls of their cramped pods. America could feel one of the pods close to his detach, then another explode and cause his to separate itself from the ship as well._

_America had no time to mourn his fallen soldiers before his own pod spun violently into asteroid-infested space. He could hear the screams of his crew and the destruction of his brilliant ship, but not his own screams when a small asteroid hit his pod and various notifications from the autopilot screeched into his ears._

_His glasses fell from his face, and in his blurred vision he swore he began to hallucinate. A white light seemed to engulf the escape pod, and before America knew what was happening, a voice as soft as the ice cream he loved back home spoke: "It is time to rise and shine, America."_

* * *

"America, wake uuup," America heard someone speak, the tone heightening towards the end so that the voice sang the final word, and he immediately sat up in his sleeping pod. Man, were those things comfortable! He should really take the blueprints for one back to Earth and begin production for some. They would be better then Tempur- Pedic! The constant nightmares of his near-death experience were truly the only downside to his pleasant sleep. He figured they would stop eventually, but just the memory wore him out enough to dread opening his eyes.

America turned to the bright figure responsible for his woken state standing next to his pod and staring at him with interested blueish-violet eyes."Yo dude, don't you ever dim these lights? They kill my eyes whenever I wake up," America said as he rubbed his briefly blinded eyes. He stretched his arms above his head, making the figure next to his pod step back a bit as he loudly yawned.

The being's white lashes gleamed in the bright light as they closed and a smile formed on its pale lips. "My apologies, America. I will have them darkened to accommodate your vision." The being handed America his glasses from a nearby table. "Did you sleep well?"

After the much needed stretch, America nodded his head, placed his glasses on his face, then returned the smile to his host. "Yup! You really know how to make a guy feel at home, Armin." He figured mentioning the nightmare would only worry Armin's already obsessive curiosity towards him, then lead to many more questions he was too drowsy to answer, so he remained silent on that topic. "You should really give me the blueprints to make these. I totally want some of these at my house on Earth."

The being known as 'Armin' laughed and motioned for America to follow him. "We will see once your ship is repaired." America nodded and hopped eagerly out of his sleeping pod, following Armin out of the white room and into the busy hallways swarming with Armin's space ship crew hard at work.

America couldn't help but be reminded of his crew, what led them in Armin's care along with the total chaos that followed, and asked, "So how long until my ship is repaired? Is the technology really so primitive and hard to repair?"

Armin froze and slowly turned towards America, his smile widening. "I am afraid so. It might be another Earth month before we have it ready to launch. Even then, it would be much too dangerous to allow you to travel alone this far away from your solar system, so we will have to find a safe route for you to take and have escorts prepared as well."

"That seems like too much! You really don't have to go through so much for us. Can I at least help in the repairs? It might speed the process up if your engineers have someone familiar with the technology help them."

"Oh, no America! I am your host, and as both my AND your Earth customs dictate I am the one responsible for any and all hard labor needed to make your stay comfortable. Please do not worry yourself. My scientists are the best!" Armin turned and continued walking down the long, gray hallway. "Now, we must hurry to the diner for breakfast. I know how much you love food."

America sighed in defeat and continued to follow his new friend, the promise of food keeping his mood light despite his worry. He really wished he could go home- even he knew his countrymen would be frantic without him there for so long. But what could he do? Only Armin could fix his ship and he had no way of contacting NASA or Tony. He'd asked, but apparently there was a code required to send messages through Armin's ship, which he did not have. It was similar to a phone number according to Armin's explanation. Tony never mentioned it (probably because America's ship still used 'primitive' technology and had no use for it) and he couldn't ask him until he returned. America had sent the gray alien for help just before his ship's collapse and eventual rescue, so Tony would most likely have to search for America after finding no trace of his ship or its crew in the wreckage once he returned. His situation was not the best.

Still, he did not complain. He trusted Armin almost as much as he did Tony. The alien had been nothing but hospitable since the rescue and seemed to only want his safety ensured. Not to mention the being was thoroughly interested in America's world- how could he not show off? He'd brought many things from Earth to show possible alien friends for just such an occasion. His XboxXD, Play Station 6, some old school Gameboys, kitchen utensils, drawing materials, pictures of Earth's natural landscapes, food (mainly burgers and other junk food), his iPod, Anime and Manga by Japan's request, and much more. Armin had been more than thrilled to ask questions about every gadget he was handed and likewise America was eager to answer them.

Of course, this had been towards the beginning of their meeting. America could still remember how he felt when a ship millions of times greater than his own allowed his escape pods to board and the ship's captain stepped out to meet his guests.

America, originally very nervous, had been transfixed by the extraterrestrial. Hair as white and pure as the snow back home and short only in the back nestled a familiar cowlick at the center of his head, two-toned eyes that reminded him of the Alaskan sky at dusk, and skin that, to him, resembled both frosting and the machinery he loved to work with accommodated the slim being. He was godly to look at, and if it wasn't the angelic aura mesmerizing the nation into quiet, it was the being's almost human appearance. America had imagined something similar to Tony, if not more extravagant and...creature-like. Instead, the being that had stepped before him and his crew could come off as a human in decorated costume. While it eased America's nerves (he didn't know if he could handle a giant monster and not shake like a leaf in the wind), every newcomer to the ship was astonished.

The captain had remained quiet, observing America and his crew skeptically before his stoic expression morphed into one of joy and he greeted his guests (quite loudly) with a grin, shocking everyone present.

'Armin' he'd introduced himself as. It was a simple name, but America figured it was simplified for his sake, because what he assumed was a name-plate on the being's coat in alien writing was much longer than five letters. America accepted it nonetheless, having nothing else to call the being.

The alien was shorter than America, probably around England's height, and wore what America assumed to be his captain attire: a skin-tight suit a shade more violet than his skin with two lighter rings decorating its right side and bell sleeves that turned dark-teal at the elbow, purple gloves that only covered the middle finger, various belts carrying pockets for tools and weapons (America assumed) on each thigh, protective knee-high white and teal boots, and a short one-sided cape starting at a high-collar and ending over the left shoulder in the front while it trailed all the way to the hip in the back. The cape, unlike the rest of the alien's attire, was a vibrant assortment of teal, yellow, and purple at the neck. America didn't know what the design on the cape meant, but thought nothing of it. After all, his home had designs for the sake of fashion as well.

Instead of demanding where they were from and their purpose, the alien seemed to know of America's predicament and immediately went to work on accommodating them onto their grand ship. Food, bedding quarters, entertainment; it was all provided. America was skeptical at first of the alien's kindness, what with Tony's warning of very greedy aliens who loved oddities. Humans remained off their radar simply because they hadn't managed to venture far out of their solar system to reach other vessels, but now that they had he didn't want America landing in the hands of a possible slave trader. Unfortunately, Tony wasn't here to supervise him. Soon enough, though, his worries dissipated once he realized it was simply an act of hope to the shorter alien. Apparently, he was in search of new lifeforms as well and was all too excited to learn about America and his world. The questions bombarded at America ranged from his name to his morning habits, to his planet's favorite pass time and more.

In the end they conversed on many topics and America managed to gain some information on Armin's world as well. Armin is the leader of their planet, Velrys. Unlike Earth, everyone is connected into one leadership regardless of what section of the planet you were from or lived at. Although Armin loved the planet dearly, it is his after all, he often grew bored with contentment and traveled the galaxy every decade or so in search of a special companion.

"What type of companion?" America had asked.

"It is a little complicated...but I don't want to be alone anymore, so I hope I find them. If they exist." America's eyebrow rose at this. He'd assumed it was a friend that long ago disappeared. Why was Armin searching for something he did not know existed? Then again, America could not really talk- after all, he was on the same search. (Although in his defense, Tony had long ago proven what he looked for _did_ exist.) America was fascinated anyway with the numerous customs he and Armin shared and differentiated at. America had things like the Superbowl and Christmas at home, but Armin had planet-wide celebrations for Velrys and himself. Armin's people truly loved the being as their leader, and it admittedly made America jealous.

The thing America had found most fascinating, though, was Armin's take on gender. According to the alien, their species had no gender to speak of. They were asexual for the most part, but if one found another they wished to become intimate with, either being could become pregnant. It all depended on who 'took' it, which led America to embarrassingly blurt out the question about reproductive organs ( or "So everyone has a dick?!" as America put it). Armin, all too eager to answer but blushing nonetheless, answered that they did not have a 'dick,' but grew an appendage when needed. His species did not have large breasts or penises when born - breasts were not really needed the way they fed their young anyway - but they grew the necessary organs when needed.

The very notion of a grow-able penis was strange to America, but that didn't stop him from asking many questions about it. "My species has no gender," Armin had explained. "We have always been born with the knowledge to have children. If we need to procreate, anyone will do. 'Male' and 'female' do not exist." The genderless issue only proved difficult to America when he referred to Armin with 'he' to his crew. In the end he figured it was fine. Armin simply communicated using a translator common to many lifeforms near his planet, many of which did not have gender either, so he was not familiar with using one that required grouping someone into a role. Armin had agreed to allow the use of the term 'he' since he did not know what to refer to himself using a language limited in genderless pronouns.

Thinking back on it now, America realized how hypocritical he was being by becoming annoyed with Armin's questions when he had asked so many embarrassing ones when he'd first met the alien. It was rude considering everything Armin did for his crew (what was left of it after the crash, anyway) and he scolded himself for being un-heroic to his savior.

They quickly descended their current floor through a clear elevator and entered what America found out early on to be a mixture between a kitchen and a dinner hall. The ceiling was high, but not too high, and whatever food was being made could be seen by everyone present to devour the 'grub'. The room was six times as big as America's room and ceiling beams marked the lined rows of tables in front of the circular 'cooking' station in the middle of the room. The beams glowed a soft cyan, giving the room a heavenly blue light. The elegant and soft decoration was not what gave the room a warm atmosphere, however. Various servicemen of the alien being's spacecraft were dining there, chitchatting about family and various antics they'd experienced while on their shift. America couldn't help but smile at how warm it felt. He sometimes felt uncomfortable in the room given to him with how cold it was. Not in temperature, of course, but in overall feeling. As if no life had ever stepped foot there.

His thoughts were interrupted by the smell of food and his grumbling stomach. He quickly grabbed a plateful of various alien delicacies (most of which looked like mutated fish to him, but tasted like fruit and chicken) and he sat down at a table far in the corner with his alien friend. "You know, for alien food, this stuff is pretty great," he said before taking a large bite of what he assumed was extra-terrestrial pork.

Armin expressed a grin rivaling his own 'Hero' smile. "I am so delighted you like it! One day you will have to make one of those 'burgers' you love boasting about. I would love to try something made by your own hands."

America gushed and enthusiastically nodded his head since his mouth was preoccupied with food at the moment. The extra-terrestrial continued in his enthusiasm. "And perhaps you could allow me to learn more about the 'gender.' It simply is so strange how you 'humans' have two types! Very fascinating."

America almost spit his food out. Talking to someone about reproductive organs who had no worry of them truly was an odd thing. America quickly changed the subject (wouldn't want to talk about _that_ while eating) and soon the two were in a delightful conversation about party ideas. Armin's planet loved celebrations as much as America's did. "So, do you also use a giant pole to wrack up flying noodle hogs and stack them up on the lake's reproductive matter?" Did the translator just malfunction? That was truly the only explanation America could conceive of to explain what his friend just uttered.

Before he could respond one of Armin's higher-ranked and bulkier crew members walked to their table and stopped beside Armin, who's attention was still trained on America.

"Sir, we have news of-," America could not hear the rest since the alien had lowered his voice and whispered the remainder of the message to his (America had long ago decided to refer to each alien based on how masculine they looked) commander's ear. Armin's expression changed from carefree to curious, his mouth forming a small pout, and soon waved the other alien away. "My apologies America, I have to take care of something. Being the captain of a ship is really annoying, at times."

"Oh, it's cool. I know the feels, man." America was about to get up himself before Armin threw himself over the table and closed the distance between them, looking down at America with childish glee shimmering in his two-toned eyes. "BUT! We simply must talk more later. I still have so much to learn about your planet." Despite the sudden act, America found his voice, "Oh...uh, s-sure dude! Whenever you want."

Armin seemed satisfied with the response because he grinned and soon left, waving goodbye to America before disappearing with one of his crew and out of the diner. America felt mentally exhausted and silently thanked everyone who dealt with his eccentrics without blowing up in his face (with the exception of England and Canada). Armin truly was more childish and hyper than he'd expected.

* * *

"_Sir, we have news of another ship having collided with the asteroid field." _

Armin walked to his office with his guard, eager to learn about the new intruders unlucky enough to stumble into their sector. That asteroid field was worth its value in stardust, and he was truly glad he'd set the trap when he first claimed the area as his.

Usually it caught mindless bandits or lost travelers and annihilated them so he wouldn't have to deal with the paperwork, but on occasion it caught future allies. America was his best find, yet. He was so interesting, Armin couldn't believe how much fun the human (as America had called his species) was.

He simply refused to tell America that his ship's repairs had been completed long ago. Surely he could keep his new friend by his side for a few more months before he left? At least by that time he could perhaps form a new alliance or convince the human to stay while his crew left. The other humans were interesting as well, but America had this charm that spoke to Armin. He didn't know what it was, but it insinuated actions he would never otherwise do- like lie to a friend.

Ah, what he'd do for a mind-control device...

"_What have we caught?"_ Armin announced in his language as he walked in to his office- truly not an office but more of a room of operations with emphasis on its leader. Only three of his people were present to supervise the large monitors decorating the curved walls; he didn't like working his citizens too long and preferred a small group to check on the boring jobs.

One of them with long violet hair turned to its leader and spoke in the same gurgle of their language, _"A large ship. We are unsure of their purpose for we can't come into contact with them. They were hit pretty hard, though. I doubt they'll make it for long."_ Armin stared at the screen showing the mystery ship being pummeled by asteroids. It was large, silver, and quite boring. Nothing like America's ship, so Armin figured they were not his rescue crew. Really, what kind of planet doesn't send help to such a wonderful lost comrade? Perhaps 'Earth' did not like America and wanted him gone? How cruel! He would be happy to take America off their hands, if only just to keep him nearby forever.

Armin waved a dismissive hand towards the screen and turned to leave. _"Let them die, then. I don't want more desperate thieves on our ship like last time." _

"_Yes, captain."_

* * *

**A/N:** The way the translator works- Armin gains the ability to speak whatever language the person he's talking to speaks. Only some of his crew have it, including his personal guards and high-ranked personnel.

I'm not making up an entire alien language, nor typing up random crap. I've seen it done, and it's stupid. Just assume Armin's language is a mix between German and Japanese (in sound, anyway).


	5. Chapter 5- Belarus

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hetalia._

* * *

The ship continued to rock as asteroids advanced on the defenseless ship and its crew. England could only watch as his former charge and leader was knocked out by the force of the rocking. The British nation considered ignoring all rationality and try running over to him, but the powerful jolts prevented him from even grasping his seat belt buckle correctly, so he settled for shouting as best he could to the unconscious nation. "Canada! Canada! Wake up you wanker!"

"Leave him be! Just be glad he is strapped to his seat!" Germany yelled from across the room. He seemed no better than everyone else panicking on the ship. Prussia was yelling obscenities in his ear and flailing; his red eyes were wide with fear as he practically clung to his younger brother (who seemed to be doing the same, albeit subtly) from his chair.

Japan tightened his grip on his seat as another hard hit shook their space craft. His neck would surely snap from the jolts, and he feared they would not come out of this alive. He made the mistake of screaming earlier, only to nearly bite his tongue off from the shaking. The island nation just could not understand how such a powerful and seemingly large asteroid field was not on their map and seemed to appear from nowhere. They should have been prepared! This was what their scientists worked hard for! So...how?

Also strapped securely to his seat and aching from the powerful hits, Russia contemplated the same as Japan in the midst of the chaos. The warning light was late. Their ship had powerful scanners programed to spot and warn them of oncoming danger at least twenty miles prior to the obstacle, yet no warning came until the light blinked of the approaching rocks. The light was their final warning meant to remind anyone not strapped safely to something to do so in the small time they had, but why did the ship not warn them beforehand? Were the scanners broken? Russia could not fathom how such a disastrous impediment could go unnoticed until the last minute.

The ship jerked once more, knocking Russia out of his thoughts long enough for him to notice a blur of platinum blonde and a familiar white bow dash past his seat and towards an unconscious Canada. Russia jerked forward in his seat only for the seat belt to keep him from getting up and running towards the figure.

"Belarus, what are you doing?! Sit down, sister!" He extended his arm for her to grab, but she ignored him and proceeded towards Canada.

Belarus was not stupid. She knew the danger of leaving her seat, but she refused to let her big brother die at the hands of space rocks. Something about the sudden attack did not sit right with her- and it wasn't just its almost magic-like appearance that escaped even their most powerful scanners.

Belarus, as crazy as she knew most nations thought she was (perhaps slightly correct on the assumption), was levelheaded even under most tense situations. Despite the jolts, screams, and painful feeling of being thrown about as if they were in a pin ball machine, she knew of one way to escape their predicament with the least damage. It was a long shot, but with their leader – currently the closest to their means of escape – incapacitated and the rest of their crew flailing or frozen with fear, there was no time to contemplate her actions further than she already had, so without further hesitation she made her way towards the unconscious Canadian's podium.

The rocking knocked the long-haired nation to her knees, eliciting a cry of distress from her older brother. Oh how she wished she could capture the moment her brother's eyes were on her alone and his voice tinged with worry for her being, but she was on a mission. Another jolt, but she managed to grab the table end and crawl towards the unconscious America-look-alike. Honestly, he was such a fragile thing to be knocked out so fast.

Spain and Estonia noticed her presence after hearing Russia's cry and called for her to strap herself down. She rolled her dark-blue eyes, ignoring both of them, and continued on her journey. Soon every nation was calling for her to sit down somewhere, but she refused to give up. After passing a red-faced England she finally reached Canada and grabbed hold of his leg from under the podium just as another powerful jolt shook the ship and everyone in it. The force of the hit smacked her into the edge of the long desk and a wave of pain shot itself through her head. She could feel a trickle of blood trail down her right eye and down her face.

Russia was hysterical at this point. "_Sestra_, please! Strap yourself down! You cannot- ugh! What are you doing Belarus?!" She may be an incestuous stalker, but she was still his little sister. He did not want her hurt because she refused to follow safety procedures.

Belarus paid no mind to her distressed brother, as much as it pained her to see him unhappy. Her head was throbbing, but she was where she wanted to be and did not intend to turn back now. Just as another hit tore at the ship, she stood from under the podium and grabbed hold of a random lever nearby to steady herself. She searched the table top covered in lights, buttons, and switches until she found what she was looking for. The scowling woman was skeptical of her only plan - her only source of info had come from a manual she'd stolen from the ship's engineers after all - but at this point it seemed they had no other choice if death was to be avoided. Either wait out the constant damage to their ship and hope it was still functional by the time they exited the asteroid field, or maneuver through it using the special controls designed for the captain. Belarus reached for a plastic-covered cerulean button, flipped the cover over, and pressed it. She flew back and harshly hit the wall behind her as the ship bolted forwards, nearly colliding with another asteroid. Soon another large rock was barreling towards their ship and Belarus dashed for the button again, only this time she used a directional wheel to move the ship left and out of harms way.

At this point everyone in the room stared wide-eyed at the Belarusian nation. She seemed unfazed by the chaos and concentrated on the large view in front of her. Thankfully, the giant window was intact despite all the damage and Belarus had no trouble seeing oncoming targets. She waited for the perfect moment and pressed the button once more. The ship turned right and missed yet another asteroid. After derailing the ship out of three more asteroid's path, a light caught Belarus' attention. The label above it read 'Low Thruster Power'. _Dammit_. There was no time left to simply dodge every rock that came towards the ship; they needed to escape the asteroid field altogether.

"Belarus, the red button!" By this point Russia understood his sister's intentions and, since she already seemed dead bent on going through with her plan, he might as well help his younger sibling maneuver them to safety. It was their only option. The large nation was unsure if their weapons worked after the many hits, and with countless damage warnings spewing out of the autopilot, he could only guess it would be a futile effort to check when most of the personnel were numb in their chairs and most likely refuse to move even an inch, and various monitors were black, turned off by a power outage caused by one of the several collisions.

Their only angel of hope at this point struggled to stand correctly in font of an unconscious nation.

Belarus barely heard her brother over the chaos, but she followed his instructions without hesitation. Her dark-blue orbs fixed themselves on the desired button and her pale hand hovered over it. She knew what the button did, and it was for this reason she refused to press it just then. It had to be timed; timed so perfect she could laugh about it later and claim it was a miracle. Sweat beat down her chin from the stress. Slowly, she could see an opening and hastily pressed the button.

Belarus once again flew backwards, only into Canada's lap this time to remain pinned there while the ship accelerated. Canada grunted in his stupor.

It did not take long for the ship's window to finally reach an end to the space rocks. Exhales of relief resounded throughout the room, but it was Prussia's "FUCK YEAH!" that knocked everyone from the calm. Immediately Russia unbuckled his seat belt and ran to help his sister up while Japan and England rushed to Canada's side. He seemed okay aside from a large bump on the back of his head.

Prussia approached the siblings and placed a hand on Belarus' shoulder, earning a frightening glare from the injured woman that made him pull his hand back. "You did awesome, chick! You got some balls!" Germany came up behind him and smacked his head, utterly embarrassed by his brother's wording. He cleared his throat and looked at Belarus. "We are all thankful for what you did. It took guts. Well done."

"Agreed." England said from beside a still unconscious Canada. Others agreed in unison, warm smiles of acceptance gracing bruised faces. Belarus didn't know how to feel about the warm gestures. She'd only really been thinking of her brother when she acted – everyone else was a bystander in her view. She accepted the praise nonetheless, however, so as not to ruin the moment. Besides, It felt good to have people in your debt.

Various people hugged for comfort after the frightening ordeal, and Russia surprised everyone by tightly embracing his younger sibling. "You did well, sister. I am so proud of you. Just try not to do it again." Belarus would definitely not complain and preceded to embrace back harder with a smile and sparkle in her eyes. "I did it for you, brother." And she'd do it again, regardless of what he said. She sunk into his chest to relish the moment. Yes, if it got her this much love from her brother she'd definitely do it again.

To her disappointment Russia pulled back shortly after, but his features remained soft. "We must get that injury checked out," he said, tracing the line of blood marking her otherwise flawless face. Belarus had completely forgotten about the injury, but nodded and followed her precious older brother out of the room. Before they were out of site Russia turned to Estonia, who froze at the attention, but quickly collected himself and stepped forward.

"A-ah, yes. I'm sure everyone has some type of injury to monitor, and we must check to see how many of our crew is incapacitated. I say we take this time to track all damage done to the ship." Everyone nodded in agreement and England began to hoist one of Canada's arm over his shoulder with the help of Japan. "We will get _him _to the infirmary and have someone check when he wakes up. Germany and Sweden," said nations stood straight at their name being called, "I want you two to check with our engineer group on fixing damages to the ship." Both nodded and headed out in unison. England turned to the remaining nations. "The rest of you help with the injured. I see a lot of humans with injuries in this room, so who knows how much more there are in the rest of the ship. At this point, we need to heal ourselves before we continue on. Spain, this means you are relieved of navigation duty until further notice."

"Got it, _amigo_." The tan nation was quite happy with that. If he faked a sprained ankle or stomach ache he could take a siesta.

France chuckled, amused by his laid back friend for he knew almost exactly what his plan was. He wondered if he could get away with taking a break if he faked an injury. England seemed to read his mind because his emerald eyes landed on him next. "_France_, you will remain on cooking duty with Prussia-" "Aw, not awesome dammit!" "Shut up wanker! As I was saying, remain on cooking duty. We will need all the energy we can get." France waved his hand dismissively and walked away wit a disgruntled Prussia. Spain followed, hoping to get a snack before his nap. Estonia followed them only to scout for more injured amongst the ship.

By the time the chaos ceased, everyone on board the Nation who could had returned to their senses and proceeded to assist the injured. Aside from obvious broken machinery, eight humans received medial attention for bruises, broken bones, and minor internal bleeding. The nations and anyone strapped to a seat seemed to be overall fine, just minor bruising here and there. Canada was asleep in the infirmary with Spain, so England was in charge of everyone while they fixed the damage.

So far it didn't look very good. Two engines were broken, three thrusters out of juice while one was damaged, their communications had yet to be fixed so they had no way of contacting NASA or their other various contacts on Earth... England's mood was only souring from the stress.

They should have been more prepared! How could he let this happen? Their leader and various crew members were bedridden. At this point, he considered turning back for their sake. But how could he do that? That asteroid field was suspicious – it could very well be what America encountered before _his _ship disappeared. If so, they were following his path; they might be closer to finding him if they continued on. Was it really worth it, though? Would the lives of thirty humans and ten nations be worth one sibling? England felt guilt form in his gut from the thought.

"England, sir! We have an unidentified craft in our vision!" England's emerald eyes wasted no time in turning towards the large window. His crewmen was right- there was something there. Dammit, why couldn't he catch a break? He hoped it was America's ship and not some form of enemy. His eyes squinted to see it clearly, but one of the men in front saw his struggle and maximized the image of the object on the screen. England's breath caught in his throat as he took in the mangled mess of what used to be a comically disc-like spacecraft most likely harboring a familiar red-eyed, gray-skinned alien. An alien that hated his guts and happened to be his former charge's best friend along with a massive whale.

_Tony._

"Open the hatches and prepare for ship boarding!"

* * *

"America, what is this?" America looked over at his friend and squealed, snatching the reading material out of Armin's hands while he was still reading it. Armin turned to him in confusion, hands still poised as if the book remained in their grip.

They were seated in a cushioned white lounge room simply enjoying the peace. The rest of America's crew was there with the exception of a few who'd gone to explore or eat. Some looked up from their source of entertainment at the outburst.

"I-it's nothing! Just some...uh, well..." Dammit, why did Japan have to sneak yaoi into the box of manga he'd brought? He knew he should have checked every single cover than trust the Asian to keep boundaries. He should have suspected, though, after he'd found that graphic hentai book close to the top of the box.

"Those are two males, correct? So gender does not matter in your world, either?" America gawked at his friend. The question was innocent enough, and judging by Armin's blank look he did not realize America's distress from having him look at the graphic novel. Was he offered an escape? Well, if he didn't have to explain gay sex to him he wouldn't mind discussing something serious.

"Well...it's complicated. In my planet, everyone is grouped, usually by geography, and ruled by different people. I showed you the map, remember?" Armin nodded, recalling a geographical map containing various names of territories on Earth. It was an odd concept to him considering he ruled alone. Having multiple people rule seemed tiresome and risky. Surely conflict would arise if one disagreed with another. "Many of these rulers don't agree with certain things," America continued, "so certain territories...well, we call them 'countries' or 'nations'- they don't accept certain things. Some accept same-sex coupling while others don't. My country is a bit different because it's a bunch of small territories called 'states' united under one government. Some states accept it, while other don't. And even if the territory accepts it, that doesn't mean every citizen there does." It seemed Armin was correct in his assumption.

Right then Armin pitied America. Living in such a world where meaningless things such as sex kept people separated seemed terrible. He supposed it was somewhat understandable when reproduction came into the argument. From what America told him same-sex coupling did not produce off-spring in his world, and that's why it was uncommon. Even so, he saw no harm to it.

Just then a curiosity popped into his mind and he eyed is friend warily before asking the question, "Are you into same-sex coupling, America? Like in the book?"

America visibly froze._ God, why can't my new friend know boundaries either? You don't just ask someone if they're gay, dude! _The question was embarrassing (how do you tell someone if you swing that way?), but the more he thought about it the more he realized the question was harmless if it came from a genderless alien. Armin didn't see the harm in it because he was born without a sex- he couldn't blame the alien for not understanding his difficulty.

America heard a few of his crew giggling behind him and he turned to give them a glare before looking back at his friend, his face tinted red from embarrassment. "Well, I can't really say. I suppose I don't mind either way."

"So _you_ don't care about sex?"

"Well...i guess not." The more he thought about it, the more he found it to be true. After you've lived as long as he had, you learn to not be picky so long as it feels good. He wasn't ashamed of the various experimenting he did over the years; it kept him open-minded.

Armin couldn't help but be fascinated by the new information. America's planet was truly interesting, albeit complicated where it really shouldn't be. He wanted to know much more about it and was thankful to America for bringing such insightful books.

Armin grabbed the book back from America despite his friend's attempt to grip tighter to it and continued to flip through the pages, a silly smile on his face. "I think I will keep this one."

* * *

**A/N: **I'm a day late! Nooooo! To make up for it i have a surprise~

My profile has links to sketches of Armin and the ships if anyone wants to see what they looked like (in my mind anyway). Also the uniforms, since im bad with clothes.

I apologize if this had a lot of spelling or grammar mistakes or simply sounded bad. I forgot to type ahead for this chapter and typed it up on the spot without revising. Please review! Point out mistakes if you have to so i can fix them.


	6. Chapter 6- Search for a Clue

_**A/N:** _I'm a week late - gosh i'm terrible.

I'd tell you my excuse, but then it'd seem like i'm bragging. Long story short: The deadline for something was Wednesday and i needed to finish. Obviously, it ended up taking all of my time. In addition, i came into that stump i knew i would run into while writing a full story: filler. Getting where i want to be is such a pain, but i hope this chapter is entertaining enough so you continue reading.

On a happy note: I turn 18 tomorrow! Totally going to the theater for an R rated movie. Like a boss_._

_I also just realized this story isn't marked for cursing. Well, there is plenty of it in this chapter._

* * *

America roamed the magnificent space ship he now seemed to be calling home, completely in awe despite having spent months on the advanced piece of machinery. With every turn he stood in a new environment. It was as if the ship itself was a planet; garden, kitchens, studios, engineering rooms, lounges, and various other rooms adorned the giant ship. America grew jealous every time he thought of its luxurious design and wondered when his ship would be fixed. Once he returned to Earth, he'd make sure to outdo this one a thousand times over.

Thinking about his ship saddened America, however. He'd assisted in its creation and flooded with pride when it transported them into the one world he'd only dreamed of traveling amongst. His heart hurt knowing the proudly painted blue paint, finely crafted interior, and welded metal mass had been reduced to scrap in the collision. Heart break was barely avoided thanks to Armin, but he still longed to see his ship. Not only that, but thinking about it reminded him of the facility it was built in along with its location: Earth. Good ol' USA; his home, country and people, too. America's desire to return grew with each passing...whatever they used in space when a sun couldn't signal the end of the day. America only knew how long he'd been away from the wrist watches he and his crew possessed.

But how could he complain? He received three meals a day, a very comfortable sleep chamber, and best of all: no work! To declare living under Armin's care as paradise was an understatement. Even so, time passed and his nerves increased.

Five months; that as too long and he knew it. His people were calling him, yet he was trapped in the void of space. How was his country doing? Did the world declared him dead already? He wouldn't put it past them; after all, what were the chances of surviving in an environment devoid of the chemistry your body requires you to live? If not his country, America missed his fellow nations. Did Canada miss him? Mexico? Molossia? What about England and Japan? America missed his brother's pancakes, Mexico's quesadillas, Molossia's company, England's hilarious eyebrows, and video game time with Japan. Armin's ship provided anything he could want to pass the time, but material possessions did not satisfy the American. He yearned for familiarity and his family. America could even feel his crew longing for their families as well, which only increased his own desire. At least two of them had wives and children while the rest had other family and years of plans – sky diving, bungee jumping, hiking up a mountain with their beloved, hopes for a wedding – plans requiring limited time now being wasted lazing away on a foreign ship millions of miles away from home.

_I have to convince_ _Armin to let me assist rebuilding the ship, _thought America. He appreciated the alien's kindness – truly he did – but returning home was more important at this point, and America was confident his assistance in its reconstruction would accelerate the process. The sooner his ship became functional, the sooner he and the remainder of his crew could return home. At this point they had no purpose there anyway. The crew's initial mission involved forming alliances and some type of peace agreement once life was discovered. America had asked Armin before about an alliance, but he refused to acknowledge the idea and swept it away with curious questions about Earth. America would have persisted, but Armin dodged the topic every time and America figured he was simply not interested. Perhaps he would change his mind one he realized their time together would be cut short? Not only would he be returning home, but the blond nation would have accomplished his mission as well. It was the perfect plan!

America continued walking what seemed like hours through monochrome hallways with decorative pillars and various portraits of what America assumed to be landscapes from Armin's planet; a land lush in cool greens, blues, purples, and whites. The scenery was beautiful and the young nation wished his journey hadn't ended so abruptly so he might have been able to reach luminous planets like Armin's – another regret, he supposed.

Soon, a finely decorated silver door appeared near a large portrait, seeming to be crafted of tree vines and roots, that featured Armin in what appeared to be military attire. _He looks almost intimidating in this one..._, America mused. Armin's usually glowing eyes were devoid of their glimmer, his face no longer stretched into smiles of enthusiasm, and instead formed the most serious look America had yet to see on the alien. Brows straight, mouth lined, hair slicked back aside from the familiar cowlick atop his head; all of his features lacked animation. He looked almost bored to the ogling nation now in the vision of a guard standing nearby. The otherwise silent alien coughed, causing America to jump and turn towards the impassive – man? Yes, man. He looked manly enough with that bulky build and scary face, and America needed some form of labeling or he'd end up confused.

The guard, dressed in a similar dress as their leader minus the cape, stood to the side, back straight and near intimidating with their hands folded behind them. Their eyes locked with America's but their expression remained unchanged. "State your business."

The alien's rough tone caught him off guard – America was so used to Armin's friendly nature – but he regained his composure and coughed once into his palm, slightly embarrassed to be caught wandering around. "Ahaha...i was just wondering where Armin was? I need to talk to him about something." The guard pointed a finger at the door behind him. "He is busy, but I will tell him you are here." America thanked the alien and waited patiently as he knocked a large hand on the door. "Sir, Mr. America is here to see you," the ambiguous alien called.

Inside, Armin flipped through another manga book with childish glee. He'd spent the past two hours similarly, the topics of the readings varying from cooking and animal studies to teen novels and comics. By far, Armin's favorite were picture books that offered him a view of America's home. The people were different, as were the ideas, dress, and celebrations. Of course he had similar things on his planet, but the differences were magical and he found himself taking notes at every page.

After finishing the volume, Armin turned to a magazine next in his large pile of books. He flipped through it and read various headlines involving what appeared to be famous humans indulging in disreputable behavior.

"_Humans really love attention...or perhaps it's a form of defense mechanism? Rather rude, but I suppose my people are not free to judge," _he spoke, then looked up from his reading to an electronic map screen on his large, crescent-shaped desk. "_I'm guiltier than my people, though._"

Feeling the magazine dampening his mood, he reached for another book from the pile and opened it to a random page. Large pictures of people raving to music and wearing decorated glow sticks, hats, and other strange attire featured every page. Armin's mood immediately lifted. _"Mardi Gras, huh? It looks like fun!"_

On his previous excursions to foreign planets Armin repeatedly found himself detached. Yes, the planets were wondrous in new ideas and culture, but for some reason Armin could not connect to anyone there – especially the leaders who greeted him. Armin is a genuinely kind and harmless person on a normal day, yet the politicians he'd met were stiff and grated on his nerves with their constant pleas for planet-to-planet trade arrangements. He felt himself rising with a need to smack a few, although his desires remained just that even after he left their homeland. Instead of partners in leadership, he craved a true friend. The companionship he desired never presented itself in his journeys – until now.

Unlike previous times, Armin found himself genuinely attracted to America and his planet. At first he suspected their ancestors were connected, that he was somehow part human (if you considered their appearance it was not so farfetched) and America's presence ignited a need in him to connect with their lost brethren, but Armin only felt the connection towards America himself. He tried talking to his crew and, as delightful as they were, failed to feel any connection towards the other humans. The connection was solely towards America, but why? Was it because he was a leader like himself? From what America told him, the blond simply held the role of captain on their ship crew and a high position in their government, but his 'country' was ruled by someone else. _"But really, it's ruled by the people! Haha!" _He'd claimed. How does that even work?

Armin pursed his lips as he thought more about it. He needed America to stay if he wanted answers, and in order to keep the man close his ship's status had to remain a secret. The lies had to continue – as much as he didn't want them to.

Feeling content with his conclusion, Armin reached for another book only to stop midway. He gasped and held his right arm close, tightening his fingers around the limb to numb the pain now bleeding its way through. "_Nrgh, I need to send someone to check on Velrys,_" he whispered through clenched teeth.

A knock and short announce from his guard forced him to shortly forget about his arm and he turned towards the door._ America?_ He could not turn him away; it was bad hospitality. Reluctantly, he released his grip and lowered the aching limb, then composed himself as best he could before calling out to his guard, "Let him in."

As soon as America stepped through that door, Armin's mood uplifted. He really wanted to know why, but before he could make his usual greeting America began to speak.

"Armin, I want to help in my ship's construction. No ifs, ands, or buts – I really need to get home and I KNOW that if I help with its repair, the process will speed up. My crew is more than willing to help. One of the mechanics survived and she can only help you. We want to be your heroes!"

_Oh, darn it._

America, face hard with determination and trademark hero smile in place, stood before the speechless alien. _This is it. I am not being a pushover anymore. I'm America, and the land of the free calls to me! _

_I shouldn't be sitting on my totally-not-fat ass while someone does all the work for me. I'm supposed to be the hero! _America crossed his arms for added affect and hoped with everything he had that Armin agreed with him, otherwise he might have to sneak his way out like a prisoner on a pirate ship.

For a while they simply stared at each other until Armin released a sigh and a pout formed on his pale lips. "I-I suppose...that would be okay." What choice did he really have when America seemed intent to receive approval on the request? Even so, the pale being would not concede easily. "However..."

America felt himself wanting to leap for joy at Armin's approval, but that joy dwindled at the final comment. He suddenly felt uneasy. "However?"

Armin knew he had to be careful or risk sounding too persistent, so he chose his next words carefully. "We have strayed quite some distance from where I initially found you, and i don't want you or your men to befall some terrible fate at the hands of slave collectors or other possible threats in this sector of the galaxy. I ask that you allow me to escort your crew partway home. In addition, I am willing to form an agreement of partnership with you and your world- uh, country. Well, either won't matter to me so long as you are involved." Armin hoped he looked sincere enough to receive a positive answer.

America thought about it for a second before he figured no harm would come of it. And wasn't an alliance what he'd initially promised his boss should he successfully find life? It was like beating two birds with one stone! Just as planned. Totally.

"Cool! I'll go let my crew know now. Thanks Armin!" He waved and without warning exited the room.

For once Armin was glad for the quick departure and scrambled for the button on his desk that would solve his only remaining problem. Once he found it, he jabbed his finger on it and spoke into the speaker. _"Attention engineers! This is your captain. Destroy America's ship!"_

"_W-wha...? But we just fixed it!"_ Responded someone – an overseer on break most likely.

"_Break it again! NO – WAIT!"_ Completely destroying it would look suspicious – as if his crew never worked on it at all. Armin needed a half-way point. _"Smash half of it and leave it partly fixed. America and his crew will be arriving to you soon to assist in its 'repair'. Ensure they have something to fix."_

"_Ah, y-yes captain."_

Mission completed, Armin sat in the nearest chair and roughly exhaled, then grunted as another pang shot through his chest. He should get working on a reconnaissance group soon.

* * *

The ship was battered. Various lights flickered as Japan walked past door after door, some containing flustered crew members desperately screwing pipes and other machinery back together while other rooms were empty aside from tipped over furniture. He passed Sweden at one point and asked how the repairs were going, but all Japan could make of the Nordic nation's heavy accent included a dog and Finland, so he simply nodded as if he understood and left.

Japan hurried his pace and finally reached the infirmary, happy to find Canada awake. In pain, but awake.

"How are you feeling?" The raven-haired nation placed the soup he'd gone to retrieve from the kitchen on the nightstand and patiently waited for Canada to compose himself in his drowsy state.

"Terrible. What happened?" He groaned. His head was throbbing and he couldn't remember why, but before Japan could answer the realization hit him and he bolted off the bed only to have the Asian force him back down. "Is everyone okay?!"

"Calm down, Canada-san. Belarus navigated us through the asteroid field and we made it out alive."

"B-belarus?" Well there was a shock.

"Yes. She was quite brave and successfully drove our ship out of harm's way. There was still hefty damage, but everyone is working hard on repairs and healing the injured so that we may continue on."

Relief coursed through the Canadian, but his heart still rammed against his chest. Japan mentioned injuries, so they were not out of the woods yet. How many were injured? How much damage did the ship take? How far were they on their mission? Any clues on America's trail? Should they even continue on after that calamity? As leader, Canada should have known all this. Instead, he was knocked out and completely useless during a crisis. He always refused to compare himself to his brother, but at times like these America – the idiot who pried into the world's problems despite being unwelcome – manifested himself into Canada's mind. Even if they were farfetched, he still had ideas. Even if everyone hated him he still tried to help. America was in the spotlight for a reason, but when Canada finally got a chance to shine he failed, and the only thing he could picture to cheer him up as his brother, which only darkened his mood even more.

_I need to be better. I'm not weak! _Canada, brows furrowed and violet irises intense, vowed to learn every single motion acted on _his_ ship. If someone so far as picked their nose or fucked in the bathroom, he needed to know about it. _W-well, maybe that's a little much... but I do need to check status after the collision. _His eyes turned to Japan, ready to ask about every detail of the ship.

Japan predicted this and interrupted before he could begin his onslaught of questions. "I will explain everything once we group together. That way, no one has to repeat anything."

Canada complied and in his head movement noticed a bundle of sheets next to his bunk. He turned his head towards the sleeping Spaniard on a bunk, noticing him for the first time since he'd woken up. "What's wrong with him?"

"He is off-duty and faked an injury to sleep."

"Does England know?"

"I'm assuming he suspected it, but did not bother to care. As acting commander, he has more important issues on his hands."

His head drooped and Canada's stomach squirmed from the guilt. He needed to relieve England of his duties. The poor guy was most likely stressed from all the action.

A raspy noise caught both nations' attention. England's voice ringed through the room, causing them to look up at the more or less intact intercom speaker above them. "Speak of the devil." Canada meant the comment to be light, but the voice propelling itself through the intercom destroyed any positive vibe. The static made it hard for the nations to make sense of England's words, but his frantic screaming made it clear to anyone listening what England wanted. Canada became worried. What more could possibly go wrong?

The static dissipated enough for them to hear a name they thought they'd never hear. "_Tony...here!...boarding...quick –_"

_Tony._

_Tony!_

Both nations shared a look of shock and recognition before bolting into action. Canada sprung from the bed and Japan moved to wake up the drooling Spanish man. The duo practically dragged the half-asleep nation as they ran to the control room.

They met Germany half way and Sweden soon after. Soon every nation and majority of the crew stood breathless near the entrance of the room, awaiting an explanation for England's frantic tone.

England, an uncharacteristic crazed grin on his face, pointed to the screen. Everyone turned in unison and gasped at the circular ship. America was never one to be secretive when he was excited, so almost everyone was familiar with his alien best friend. If not before, they did now for succeeding his mission's announcement the gray alien had been introduced to every nation. He was the key that calmed everyone's nerves after hearing the superpower would embark on a dangerous quest. Having 'one of them' be involved relaxed almost everyone.

At least until now.

"Sir, we are ready to board."

"Good. Then we should get ready to go out."

Everyone snapped their heads to England in shock. "We are embarking on that ship?" Russia questioned. He was astonished, to say the least.

"Not all of us. I will only need you and Germany for this. Canada too for obvious reasons unless he wishes to stay."

"This is bullshit! That thing is practically torn to shreds! You can't possibly be thinking of walking into that thing when it could explode at any minute!" Prussia roared.

Belarus stepped from behind her brother and glared at the island nation. "I agree! You are not sending my dear brother to be killed!"

"Yeah! At least let me come; I'm sick of cooking with France!"

France gasped. "Oh, like you're any good at it!"

"Hey! I'm an awesome cook!" Prussia insisted.

A certain bespectacled short-haired blonde spoke up, "Shouldn't we have Canada decide? He is the leader after all." All eyes turned to Canada, who jumped from the sudden attention. The blonde silently cursed Estonia for the suggestion; said cursed nation simply smiled, glad that he managed to calm the argument while inhibiting the attention to himself. He'd grown to notice his talent for avoiding rough situations. After all, he tended to do the same act back home to the other Baltics. Estonia only hoped Russia wasn't rubbing off on him.

Canada composed himself as best he could. He glanced towards the broken ship anxiously, then sheepishly regarded his fellow nations. "I-i think it would benefit us to take a look. Tony was America's best friend. If we find him, we might find America."

"And what if he's not there?" Belarus snapped.

Taken aback by the outburst, the now shrinking blonde tried to remain professional against the fearsome woman. "T-then...then I think...well, what other option do we really have?"

"He's right." England abruptly stepped beside Canada and eyed the Belarusian boldly. Emeralds bored into twin Azurites. "Our communications are still off and we need help repairing the ship. If anyone can fix it and possibly lead us towards America, it's Tony. We've found a clue towards our goal and I see no reason not to take it."

Belarus opened her mouth to speak but she felt a hand place itself on her shoulder. She looked up to see her brother giving her a firm look. "Belarus, we owe you for what you did. I appreciate the concern, but I volunteered for this knowing the danger. I want to at least lend a hand where I can, like you did." Russia's face softened and he smiled at his younger siblings. "I'll be fine," He reassured.

Reluctantly, Belarus nodded and stepped down from her argument. If it's what her brother wanted, this time she would let it slide.

Prussia wasn't done, however. "Hey, what about me?"

"I say we flip a coin," Spain suggested while pulling out a random coin from his pocket. "If it comes up heads you can go. Tails, Germany will go." Germany sighed but agreed. Prussia gave thumbs up and waited patiently.

"Alright." Spain flipped his thumb and the coin spiraled high into the air. "Call it!"

"Heads!"

"Tails!"

* * *

"I apologize for my brother's behavior. He was raised by wild men."

"Which makes me wonder how you two can possibly be related."

"You don't really have much room to talk, Canada."

"Neither you, England."

"Hey!"

The quartet navigated their way through the mangled ship. It was fairly small and barely fit them all in one hallway, but somehow they managed to ease through every opening. They each carried a makeshift pistol that shot hard rubber bullets in addition to actual bullets. All of them hoped the settings would not have to be changed. They wanted to avoid killing anything at all costs.

Canada stepped forward and pointed a finger at three openings. "I say we split up. Tony isn't the type to travel with another alien from what I've seen, so he should be the only one on this ship unless America escaped with him." His group nodded and each chose a door before descending into its depths.

Canada searched what appeared to be a bedroom, but found no trace of the alien. He left and continued on.

On the opposite side of the ship England searched through maps and drawers filled with notes of the galaxy. _I might need these later. _He stuffed the papers into a satchel and left, disappointed at finding no alien.

Germany was not having better luck. Despite flipping over countless furniture, he found no trace of anything living. Even something dead would give him hope at this point.

One of the desks he'd flipped remained unbalanced and tipped, causing a loud crash that startled him. He jumped back with a high-pitched scream.

"I heard a girl! Did you find someone?" Someone nearby called. Sounded like Russia.

"N-no! Nothing!" Germany roared back, voice back to its deep baritone. Red-faced and agitated, the blonde left the room to continue searching elsewhere.

Down the hall Russia frowned as another possible hiding spot deemed alien-less. _If I were a small, gray alien where would I be after a collision? _He eyed the fallen pipes across the room._ I'd probably fly all the way over there and hit my skull somewhere. _Feeling it was worth a shot, he approached the mess and began to remove the pipes, but inevitably found no alien. Frustrated, he headed for the door when a clanging noise made him pause. Curious, he turned and let his purple eyes search the room, but did not find anything new. He turned to leave once more, but another clang called to him and he spun around. Confused at finding nothing, he stepped forward and searched once more. His eyes trailed the pipes. The fallen furniture, the broken glass (he was glad their helmets provided oxygen), and various paper; nothing seemed out of the ordinary until he caught sight of movement under the smashed-in wall.

Russia rushed to the fallen alien and removed the debris. "Everyone, I FOUND HIM!" The alien lay emotionless in his arms and Russia worried they were too late.

England was the first to step in and he rushed to the large nation holding their objective. Alarmed, he fell to the ground next to him and eyed the gray being warrily.

"Is he alive?"

"I am not sure. He was crushed when I found him. I only noticed because he moved his fingers."

"Shit."

As the remainder of their group stormed in shouting questions in unison, England checked the alien for a pulse. Even if he wasn't of their species, he assumed their bodies worked somewhat similar considering he could live on Earth.

The room grew quiet as they waited for a reaction from the being. England's heavy breathing fogged the inside of his helmet. _Don't die on me you bastard._

Canada stepped up behind them, worry etched onto his face. "Tony. Tony, are you okay?" He whispered, hoping for a reaction.

The alien twitched and its eyelids began to shake. The nations released a breath of relief as Tony's eyes fluttered open. Large, oval red eyes met blue, violet, violet again, and then –

"Fucking limey!"

* * *

**A/N:** Sweden will get his spotlight, i promise. I just don't want to type up his accept, lol. That's a mess.

As an added note, does anyone think Armin has too much lime-light? I intended for this to be like a regular story, but i understand that because it's fanfiction people have adverse behavior towards OCs.

At this point i can make his POV disappear and be focused on the nations, although later on i will implement it again for the sake of back story.


	7. Chapter 7- Tony

Thank you for the reviews and favorites! Long A/N at the end.

**_Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Hetalia._**

* * *

"What the bloody hell was that for?!"

"I told you – it helps calm me."

"Why you little –"

"England, can't we just be glad he's okay?" Canada asked pleadingly.

"Tsk. He'd better be okay after what the bugger did to me..." Mumbled the angered blonde. Defeated, England rubbed his reddened and surely bruised cheek. His already prominent scowl deepened the further they neared an exit. The moment Tony awakened, he'd yelled out an insult never to be uttered at the presence of his Queen and kicked him right in the face. Despite his protests, the alien assaulted him further as his crew simply watched, astonished at the thing's feisty behavior. Yes, yes, it was great the gray nuisance was alive and well, but did he really have to be the blunt used to prove that?

Even so, despite the hostile behavior and angry names, deep down England was relieved. The alien acted as he always did. The familiarity was soothing, and proved the alien's ordeal did not affect his mentality. He was sane and still functional, from what they could tell, and held valuable clues on their search for America. Hell, the alien could simply lead them right to the missing nation at this point. Although, when one considered the condition of his ship, England doubted their search would end so easily. Something had caused the damage, and England could not wait to learn what.

Canada held the same suspicions. Tony, while eccentric and foreign, proved to be dependable and smart. Tony's stone-like posture and silent demeanor could be quite intimidating and the little alien rarely crumbled under the stress of other nations. In fact, he supplied the artillery when America was in the mood for a good prank and never succumbed to retaliation – not even when the Canadian stuffed a rock into a snowball aimed for his head during a particularly hardcore snowball fight. The alien had caught it effortlessly and threw it back double the force. Canada was lucky to have ducked or the ball might have left a hole on his face. Most definitely, Tony was a force to be reckoned with – so what managed to overpower him? Canada knew not to assume every alien resembled Tony, but he had to wonder now exactly how terrifying and powerful were other extraterrestrials?

Now on their own ship, the group exhaled a sigh of relief knowing their outing went without incident. Russia, who'd been carrying Tony, placed the tired alien on a nearby royal leather sofa. "I think it is time you tell us what happened to you and America," he announced, to which everyone present nodded in agreement.

Hearing the nation's name triggered something and Tony visibly shrunk into himself. His feisty red eyes dulled and a shadow cast itself over his face. The nations could tell this was not a good sign.

Canada stepped forward and lowered himself to meet the alien's downcast glance. He spoke softly and gingerly, "Tony, I want to know what happened to my brother. Please...tell us where he is, okay?"

All eyes were on the foreign being. The room grew deathly silent as the nations waited for Tony to lift, or possibly crush, their hopes.

Hesitantly, red eyes met violet and Tony spoke, "I don't know."

No one spoke for moments, still trying to process the implausible information. It was another second and, having broken free of the trance first, Canada stifled a nervous laugh before questioning the somber alien. "W-what do you mean you don't know? You were with him on his mission, right? Surely you know where he is, or what happened to him...right?" Tony remained quiet.

Party member's shoulders visibly fell at the news. So far the gray alien in front of them was their only clue, and here he was announcing he was clueless as well? It seemed their entire journey was cursed with constant misfortune, and they were doomed to search for a possibly dead nation in the midst of a large galaxy majority of which was unknown to any of them. Was their search aimless? It began to feel as if they were starved sailors using a broken compass at sea. Their only hope, a navigator, was horribly blind and delirious. Should they really continue under their condition?

Germany, never the one to surrender easily because of silly inconveniences (he'd waged multiple wars with Italy, after all) would have none of it and made his presence known to their guest. He eyed the alien narrowly. "Mr. Alien, what happened right before your ship ended up in that condition?" Tony still refused to talk, but Germany persisted. "Tony, was it? We have come all the way from Earth to find that American. We have spent many of the world's money funding the ship you are sitting in, and are risking thirty human lives – along with our own – to finding America. In addition, we have many of the other nations back on Earth working on finding traces of him as well. We sincerely ask that you tell us all you can to ensure our mission's success. What happened on your mission?"

Tony glared at the blue-eyed German. He'd never trusted the rest of the nations, especially England. Lithuania, the brown-haired man who'd lived with him and America for a while, was the only one to earn his trust; everyone else was an enemy in his eyes. Especially England. He'd read about Earth politics and understood the severity of his existence, not to mention America's should personal information leak out. Tony harbored no need to talk to any of these strange men, not even the one who looks like America but couldn't recall his name. For all he knew, he was a clone in cahoots with the rest. But, if what the gruff blonde man said was true, then America's entire planet basically achieved world peace for him. America would be ecstatic from the news. Should he really lead them to him? Being surrounded and tired from his ordeal, he didn't have the strength to fight them, so he figured keeping quiet would be a fruitless effort.

"Feed me first, then i'll tell you."

* * *

Now seated comfortably on a soft velvet chair inside a meeting room aboard _The Nation_, Tony sipped from his juice box and silently munched on a burger prepared by France. Other people had joined the returning party and now seated themselves in a circular table at the center of the room. Including his rescuers, Tony recognized two other nations (_France, was it? And Belarus...great._) along with humans he'd never seen before. Tony grew nervous from all the attention, but continued eating and soon began his story.

"Well, we were on our way back from the mission. I took America to some parts of the galaxy I was familiar with, but had to keep him from meeting any actual aliens due to the danger of slave trafficking. We mainly drifted and only really stopped in a deserted dwarf planet similar to your moon."

"So you agreed to send America on a mission steered for him to fail? What kind of friend are you?" England accused.

"Who the fuck asked me to talk in the first place? I can stop if it bothers you so damn much."

"England, let him finish," Canada urged England, who simply humphed and crossed his arms, but otherwise remained quiet.

Tony munched on his burger before speaking, "As I was saying, yes, we avoided any danger. I told him of the dangers and he agreed not to push if I deemed it unsafe. I'm enough proof of alien existence, so if we didn't meet others naturally America was just going to have me provide trinkets and maybe some DNA to convince his boss enough to fund more expeditions. The entire mission was really just so he could prevent the end of NASA."

Everyone grew silent, faces filled with astonishment and awe after hearing the news. Who would have guessed America had an almost brilliant ulterior motive to his mission?

"It seems none of us knew America could be so clever. I know I didn't," Spain admitted. He smiled nonetheless. The American seemed fun, and it was nice to know not all of them were walking stereotypes.

Russia mentally disagreed – the Cold War taught him much about America's craftiness – but did not voice his thoughts.

Tony snorted at the nation's bewilderment. "You all give yourself too much credit. I've read your history books – you're all just as stupid as you accuse America to be. But that's humans, I guess. Mock the young for something you did years before." Gray lips met with a burger and the room exploded with outrage.

"_Excuse_ _me_?"

"What?! Did I offend? Because I really don't give a crap." Tony sipped from his juice nonchalantly.

"Yo man, what do you know about us?! I'm great! Awe –"

"Everyone! Please, I want to know what happened. Whatever opinion he may have about us is unimportant." Thankfully the room grew quiet from Canada's order and their leader motioned towards the alien to speak once more. "Tony, please continue."

"Hmph. Well after planning out our return and organizing the 'proof' we'd be presenting, we set course for Earth. Everything was going smoothly, really. The worst we had was a small food shortage, so we were pretty chillax – at least until we hit an asteroid field."

Tony noticed almost everyone knit their eyebrows. No one dared interrupt now, so he continued, "It hit us pretty hard. None of our scanners saw it coming." People shared glances, appearing to be having a silent conversation. "I managed to steer the ship into a safe-zone, but with us going the opposite way it was only a matter of time before we got hit again. America's ship lacked any real maneuverability, so I offered to take my ship to the nearest planet and ask for help. Maybe steal some supplies if whatever species that lived there didn't want to help us. Unfortunately..."

"Well, I managed to get some supplies but when I returned the asteroid field and America's ship was gone. I scanned for it everywhere but couldn't detect it at all. That's when I thought about asking you bastards for help," he pointed a gray finger at the nations present to emphasize, " but before I could get close enough to Earth to send a message the asteroid field materialized again and battered my ship. I'd been working on cruddy repairs for a while, surviving on really bad edible zinc. I was having a pretty great nap before you bastards showed up."

Each nation visibly repressed their growing inner hatred for the alien. No need to beat up a valuable resource. Instead, they contemplated their growing suspicions about their most recent asteroid encounter. The events were too similar to ignore or mark as coincidence.

"By the way, what the fuck happened to your ship? It looked totally wrecked from outside. Get hit by a meteor or is your engineering that crappy?"

"Alright you little – " Germany hooked his arms onto a protesting Prussia's underarms to prevent the angered nation from jumping Tony.

Russia ignored them and regarded the alien. "Tony, our ship was hit by an asteroid field as well; one we could not detect. Does this mean anything to you?"

After sipping his juice box dry, the alien poised a finger under his chin in thought. "Another asteroid field, huh? Actually yeah, it does."

"What? What does it mean?" Canada asked, hoping their search would not end abruptly without success. He refused to let America down, and in his curiosity unknowingly began to lean forward. He couldn't even feel the table digging into his front.

In truth, the news that an asteroid field caused all of their incidents worried Tony. His suspicions were confirmed because coincidences like that did not happen using his technology, but now he was sure their target, possibly America's kidnapper as well, subsisted farther into the galaxy – somewhere only powerful planets resided; where only the rich who could afford manual asteroid fields gloated and slept in the security their luxuries provided. Those aliens were the worst in Tony's opinion; they reminded him of spoiled Earthlings. Unfortunately, they were also the most interested in eccentricities. Tony feared his mistake of leaving the defenseless American crew landed them in the hands of wandering slave-traders. The asteroid attack threw him off and he didn't know how far America's ship might have drifted before being abducted.

And now he had majority of America's circle, along with his citizens, wanting him to explain the horrid situation. Man, he really wanted to punch England right now.

With a rough exhale he began to explain, "Well, assuming the same asteroid field that attacked both mine and America's ship is the same as the one you encountered, I'd say we fell into a trap set by a very bored aristocrat."

"What do you mean 'trap'?" Germany questioned.

"Exactly what I said. Farther into the galaxy, if you can afford it you can buy an asteroid field."

"You can do that?!" Prussia bellowed excitedly.

"That's what I just said, dumb-ass."

"What do they use them for?" Canada interrupted oncoming retaliation from the albino.

Tony refused to acknowledge the frustrated red-eyed nation and faced the Canadian. "A lot of the wealthy buy them to ward off invaders or simply as a means to 'catch fresh fish.' They are very fast and usually undetectable by lesser-sophisticated ships – essentially those who aren't rich enough to afford defenses against them, which is why they mostly capture rogue invaders or pirates in your terms, who would cause trouble on their planet. It's not rare that harmless travelers get caught in them too, though. Regrettably, the alien in charge usually doesn't care and takes their prize anyway. I suppose you could compare it to pirating, although it's the opposite that happens. If your ship is caught, most just send a crew to salvage the damage. Sometimes, if you're unlucky enough, the owner lets you die in the wreckage simply because you trespassed on their subdivision."

England grew curious, fascinated by the system. If he'd had something similar during his pirate days the British Empire might have been unstoppable. He didn't want to show his interest, though (pride and whatnot) so he scoffed and kept himself as sardonic as possible. "So it's basically a giant, beastly alarm system."

Tony's face twitched, but suppressed his irritation towards the Englishman. "Basically."

"So you think someone set the asteroid field there and happened to be interested enough to send someone to capture America's ship?" Asked Canada.

"It's a little more complicated than that..." Concern etched itself deeper into the North American's face at the confession. _This is the hard part..._Tony thought.

Tony hesitated before continuing. "From what I gather America's ship fell into a typical trap. Right after, I was hit on my way back to help. There's a low chance that asteroid field simply wandered over to me. They may be programmed, but they aren't automated to seek out others as far as I know, and most owners let it sit on their borders rather than risk what they spent on it to send it out blindly. I was too far out of the Universal Circle to have that thing on my trail so –"

One of the humans, a red-haired woman, interrupted, "What's the Universal Circle? If I may ask, that is." Really she just wanted to interact with the strange being sitting aboard their ship and eating human food like it was nothing to be astonished about.

This was feeling more of an interrogation by the minute, but Tony didn't care at this point. These Earthlings were involved in his world now and there was no going back. He could at least prepare them prior to facing the obstacles in store.

"It's what you would associate as 'national waters' when sailing the ocean. Inhabited planets have a ring around their area usually on high security to prevent unexpected invasions and other needless trouble. I navigated us on what you'd call 'international waters,' outside of the Universal Circle or any close territorial borders." The woman nodded in understanding, as did others. "Because of this, there should have been no reason for an asteroid field to be there. What's more, not only was it placed far from a border, but it reached my ship before I could return to the scene. It was as if whomever controlled it sent it to me specifically to prevent any help from reaching America."

"In short, I do think someone set the asteroid field there. However, because it was on international waters and not around a border, I can only assume that an aristocrat is on vacation somewhere with guardian asteroids patrolling his personal space. They must be really paranoid, too, because we didn't detect any nearby ships, which means they must have set the trap fairly far from themselves. We unknowingly stepped into their personal space and the guardian asteroids got us. America's ship must have interested them so they sent out a patrol team. The fact that it came back farther into space for me, though...well, there is no way my ship caught his interest."

"Which means America caught his fancy and they sent out the trap to prevent his only savior from taking him back," Russia finished grimly.

"Bingo. I can only assume the reason it hit you guys is because it was on its way back from attacking me and you got caught in the crossfire."

No one spoke for moments, dumb with fear from the alien's theory. Their mission, initially a simple find and search, had just become a rescue mission. Against a powerful and wealthy alien, no less!

England couldn't bear the thought of his former charge, his little brother, being forced into slavery by a perverted mutant. His mind wandered to horrid thoughts of multiple eyes, pimples, gills, _tentacles_ –

_bollocks_, he was terrified for the missing superpower.

The visions were instantaneous. Almost everyone could picture a shackled America on his knees, trying to win a loosing fight while protecting his crew against abusive jailers and perverted aliens, needy for their newly obtained and unique toy. France had more imagination with his images, but even in his mind they were morbid to think about. No matter how annoying the blonde was, none of them wanted such a cruel fate to befit America.

Hesitantly, Canada asked the crucial question, "Tony...do you know where America is now?" His nails dug into the wooden tabletop from suspense. They'd gotten so_ close. _Fate couldn't be so cruel as to crush their determination now, right?

"No."

Almost instantly his shoulders deflated. France placed a comforting arm on the boy's shoulder and whispered reassurances, but Canada hardly heard them. What were they going to do now? Tony was their ace , their only clue, their only hope! Not only was their ship damaged but now they had nothing steering them in the right direction. At this point they were blind and stranded in a black sea of uncertainty. They might have to turn back... _No, I don't want to turn back!_

Tony, finished with his food and comfortable, stopped to analyze the room. He was anxious, but these nations truly seemed bent on their quest for his missing friend. From what he could see, a number of America's citizens were present as well as nations. He supposed that earned points, although humans were generally weaker to nations and could have easily been manipulated. Even so, all of them claimed to care for his missing friend. Despite his suspicions, Tony could almost hear his friend's enthusiasm urging him to trust the crew simply because: "_Everyone deserves a chance bro!_"

Tony wanted to find America as well. These nations had a working ship; he did not. They had resources he didn't, but no proper way of gathering the information needed to find America on their own. He could tell their only hope was in his gray hands. He didn't want to mention his idea, but after seeing the America look-a-like collapse in misery, Tony figured that was enough proof of their commitment to his friend to trust them.

Tony coughed, causing everyone to eye the alien curiously.

"I don't know where America is."

"But I can find out."

* * *

"It could just be that whatever rich bastard did the damage just wanted to mess around and find some toys. Either way, the fact that you were attacked means they're nearby. Not close enough to detect yet, but close enough to know where to look. We should be able to follow the asteroid field's trail and go from there to find the center where the ship is located. If we're lucky, the guy is as ditsy as every other rich guy i've met and will surrender once he realizes 'bandits' infiltrated his ship."

"And if he doesn't?" Inquired a nervous France.

"Let's not go there, alright?"

After fiddling with a few more colorful wires, Tony deemed his work a success and stepped back from the machinery under the control room's main screen. In order for his plan to work, they required working communications. Thankfully, Earth technology was easily fixable due to its simplicity compared to Tony's, and it didn't take long for him to repair the damage.

Tony bounced back enthusiastically. "Okay, power it up!"

"U-uh, roger," the astronaut seated at the controls didn't think he'd be taking orders from an alien, but seeming as no one cared to question their situation he obeyed and proceeded to flip switches and input coordinates into the computer.

Anticipation high, the room watched as the screen lit up and screeched. After a short few seconds, the screen flashed to reveal two pairs of wide green and brown eyes, and two familiar curls only shades of brown apart.

"Wha-what the fuck?!"

"Romanooo! _Hola mi pequeño tomato!_" Spain knocked Tony from the screen and grinned up at the disturbed Italian.

"Don't call me that you churro sucker!"

"_Vehh~_, Germany! Hi, Germany! Wow, who is that?! Is that an alien? A real life alien! Huh, he looks kinda familiar but whatever! _Incredibile! _Hiiiii, i'm Italy! Oh, and this is my big brother Romano and –_"_

Already Germany could feel his headache, an old friend at this point, bear its fangs into his brain. Really, there was no time for the Italys' hyperactivity so he bellowed a loud "SHUT UP!" in hopes of quieting them down.

"Don't you tell my brother to shut up you damn potato eater. I oughta unleash a shit storm of tomatoes on you –"

"Romano, LISTEN! We've been attacked and need your help finding America," Germany pleaded with the hysterical Italians. Their shenanigans might have been a big relief before, almost comforting after being isolated in space for so long, but they had no time to waste after learning the gravity of their situation.

Shock appeared in their eyes and silenced the brothers, so Canada took his chance to speak – something he'd never thought he'd be doing so frequently until now. "We need you to get China and Mexico on the line. It's time to get my brother back."

Both Italians shared a look; one worrisome and the other slightly irritated. Then, they nodded to the crew and left the screen. With any hope their Italian legs would come in handy this time and contacting either nations would only take minutes. Even then, every second they saved was a second America didn't have to wait for rescue.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, sticking to one day isn't working for me anymore. I'm still going to try posting once a week, but the day will vary.

-Every time i have a great idea, it flies away and i'm left with the online Thesaurus to help me. Excuses, excuses, but i hope this chapter was enjoyable enough. Despite my overused phrases and bad grammar, i actually enjoyed writing Tony's explanation. I just hope i didn't mix anything up, lol. Please tell me if i contradicted myself anywhere. My memory is severely flawed and i have to keep looking back at previous chapters to remember what i included in this world. Eventually i'll rewrite everything in the glory that was... whatever i did to pass with an A every English class i took.

-inb4 cliché omgColdWarAmericacoolness.

-I'm not one for headcanons, but i would imagine Tony is a little dick towards any stranger. Lithuania and America seem to be the only real people he trusts in canon. England he hates, so i'd imagine every other nation whom he has yet to meet personally he distrusts. Canada just has the unfortunate status of being ignored majority of the time Tony might have had the chance to meet him.

-I'm sure at least one of you rolled your eyes at "Vehh~," am i right? I try not to overdue things that irritate me when i read fanfiction, but after skimming through every Hetalia volume i own (all three, pff) i noticed Italy does have the tick frequently enough for me to include it the short time he's been introduced, but not enough for every sentence to have it rolling off his tongue. I didn't want to overuse foreign phrases, but considering they are nations it would seem natural they'd switch back and forth every now and then - purposely or not.

-I also spent thirty minutes trying to come up with "churro sucker," so feel free to ridicule my lack of creativity. xD I was much better at insulting people in middle school. The things that came out of my mouth...

Anyway, thank you for reading and i hope you'll continue to! Review, favorite - whatevah ya'll.


	8. Chapter 8- Have a Nice Life

_**A/N**: _Hey, look, it's Sunday! So much for varying days.

Last chapter marked 1000 views. How cool is that? Maybe not to you guys but to me it is, lol.

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing of Hetalia._**

* * *

Not even five minutes passed to the wary nations before Mexico appeared on the screen. She looked exhausted, as if she'd ran a mile when rushing over, and her brows were down-turned in worry that soon disappeared once she took a look at the, thankfully, alive nations and crew. "Oh thank goodness! I was worried we'd lost you forever! Are you guys okay?_ Dios mio,_ what happened? We've been tying to contact you for two days!"

Had it really been that long? Checking time would have to b a priority from now on if they had lost that much time in the course of the asteroid field and rescuing Tony.

Never one to waste a single second, Canada quickly explained the situation to the flustered nation. The already present creases above her eyes only multiplied with every detail her brother did not leave out. Canada endured through every gruesome detail, feeling terrible for allowing his sister to become involved in their escapade. But they were a family that endured much together and he refused to leave her out of the loop for the sake of ignorant bliss. At the very least, Canada could relax knowing she was out of harms way in the midst of their ordeal.

Half-way through his explanation, China's screen appeared, leaving the Canadian to stop for two minutes while the man finished his strain of distraught questions. Eventually, he calmed and Canada managed to derail every detail of their mission to the two commanders of their backup operations. Needless to say they were not relieved after hearing his story.

"_Aiya..._.this is not good." China hesitated before asking, "You really want to go and rescue him?"

Mexico, surprised at the inquiry, stood from where she sat, her head turning in the direct of China's image on the ship's large screen. "How could you ask that, China!? Of course they are going to rescue him! He's our brother!"

Caught of-guard by the usually merry nation's attitude, even though the attacking nation was not present, China automatically held up his hands in defense. "I-I understand that! Believe me, were it any of my siblings I'd risk it all as well but...this is more than we anticipated. We are risking so much for the sake of one nation. Can you honestly say that is reasonable? It would make sense to simply send his alien friend with a trained combat crew than an entire crew of immortals and bystanders who were only trained in treasure hunting." He turned towards the nations on the ship then, pleading with his amber eyes to back him up against the visibly seething Mexico. China was a proud nation and would stand by his opinion, but he also did not want the female nation wishing for his head on a platter. He had enough going on than to start a pointless war over the American.

"I hate to say it, but China has a point." Simultaneously, all eyes were on Sweden. However, no one commented for moments, too shocked that he'd said anything at all. The Nordic didn't comment further and remained quiet, although his expression seemed to become angrier when in reality his shyness had caused him to stress and stiffen.

Frightened of the intense 'intent to kill' expression, everyone (minus Russia, who shrugged off the taciturn male's aggressive facial features) turned back towards the screen.

"Well...," China began. "Like I said, it's unorthodox to impulsively go after alien beings we've never fought. Shouldn't we have some sort of meeting with the others involved to decide?"

"You know how our meetings go China," noted Japan. "You can't possibly be recommending _that_..."

Every nation groaned in unison, agreeing.

_So that's why we never get anything done in our government..._, thought most of the human crew.

No one could deny, though, that the nations were beginning to agree with China the more they thought it over. This _was _highly dangerous. They'd fought many wars, but majority of them were with the comfort of their own countrymen. In outer space, they had each other and nothing more. Their ship could barely hold after colliding with rocks – how would it fare with advanced, foreign weaponry? Not to mention that once it was destroyed, there was no possibility of miracles when the atmosphere, or lack of it, could destroy them. If they were honest, the possibility of winning against foreign invaders were lower than their chances of world peace.

_But we got close with this mission..._Canada thought_. This ship proves it. It's possible, isn't it?_

"With all due respect, China," Russia started, ending the inner struggle among most of the crew ship members as their attention drew to him, "We accepted our roles on this mission knowing the danger. All of us are aware of the situation, and all of us were determined before calling you. I doubt anything you can say can make us feel even more anxious than we are now. After all, we are the ones living through it, rather than watching." The friendly, yet mocking smile was back; almost daring China to oppose him.

Wanting to prevent tension, France decided to voice his thoughts to ease the old nation's doubt. "China, we appreciate the concern. Trust me, I wanted to back out too when I heard we could possibly end up fighting aliens – but America is our comrade. We can't leave him when we're this close." France smiled sincerely. Even if the visions of ugly mucus-covered aliens terrified him, he meant every word.

From looking at every face in the room, China could see France meant every word. They'd contemplated their doom and accepted the possibility. Nothing he could say would weaken their determination.

China sighed, defeated. "I do not approve, but I will respect your wishes. I just don't see risking so many for a nation whose country is _improving _that_–"_

"America's country is improving?" Tony, silent until that point and planning Spain's destruction for pushing him so hard moments before, looked to the long-haired nation on the screen in interest.

China had honestly forgotten the alien was there, so he was slightly surprised when it spoke. "A-ah- yes. In the course of months America has been able to pay off majority of their debt. Statistics show average living and citizen happiness is higher than its ever been. We assumed he'd perished and another representative took his place, but after searching his country spotless, none was found. If I dare to say, wherever America is he's in paradise – and it's helping his country greatly."

"Are you implying it's good to leave my stupid brother lost in space?" raged Mexico.

"No, woman! I'm just trying to come up with an explanation! I don't see how none of you even considered that factor into all this. We now know of America's possible location, but we know nothing of his _condition_."

Tony, ignoring majority of the argument between the Chinese man and Mexican woman, simply muttered, "You don't say..." It was more of a comment than a question, and everyone gazed at the alien who's tone insinuated he knew something regarding the subject of America's growth. The subject was minor in comparison to America's kidnapping, but so far nothing explained his country's improvement. Why would his country grow if he was being held prisoner? Did aliens feed their captives really, really well?

Japan, curious enough to warrant a question, faced the mediating alien. "Mr. Tony, do you have a theory as to why Mr. America's country is in an upward slope regardless of his disappearance?"

"Eh, not really. I don't have all the damn answers, you know."

"A-ah, my apologies..."

England watched the exchange incredulously. He never did trust the gray alien fully, knowing he basically invaded Earth. Tony was keeping information – he just knew it. Before he could call the alien out on his secretive nature, though, the alien pulled out a pad of some-sort and began to type, occasionally sliding a finger or two across its screen. Oblivious to everyone's curious glances, mainly wondering where he pulled the device from, Tony continued typing until a red light above the device blinked red and the ship's screen maximized a map, in turn separating the other two nations on it so that the map was in between their images.

Nations and crew looked on in awe, for the map was more intricate than their own. Lights and moving lines graphed orbits and distances between them. In addition various changes in color symbolized currents of temperature flowing through space, some yellow from nearby stars while others were a mix of blue and green caused by cold planets.

Tony didn't care for it, however, for he walked towards the front of the room and faced the nations, arms at his sides and his usually neutral expression showing slight irritation. His oval red eyes seemed to be glowing; whether from rage or passion no one could really tell.

"By my calculations, this should be where America is," he announced, pointing to a particularly large blinking red dot next to a flowing group of lines. "I'm sick of hearing you bastards argue about what to do. I don't care what you do; i'm going to rescue my friend whether you come or not. However, if you decide to leave i'm going to have to ask you to abandon ship because I need this scrap of metal."

England gaped. "Pardon?!"

"Did I stutter, fucking bitch? Are you coming or not?"

"W-well...," England might have been hearing things, but the alien's tone almost seemed...sincere. Was he offering them a chance to accompany him? But this was their ship, dammit! Tony had no right to take control. "You bet your arse we are! This is our ship, dammit! So belt up and let _us _lead it to America!"

"Yeah! I'm with the British bastard!" Prussia grinned and fist-pumped the air, unaware of the 'British bastard"s glare. Other agreements were exchanged throughout the room. A decision was made and Tony turned towards the screen where Mexico was grinning happily and China looked on in disbelief.

"Then I think we have our answer Mr. Chinaman. Will you be helping us or not? Because we really don't have time for petty arguments and stupid questions."

China scowled, but softened his gaze when he glanced towards the bright faces of their rescue crew. He'd be lying if he said their determination didn't inspire him to try harder. Thousands of years were nothing to him, but one moment of world cooperation was enough to make it worthwhile.

"Alright, what do you need?"

"I need escape pods to get these humans out of here."

"WHAT?!"

* * *

"It's alright, sir, we understand. To be honest, i'm a little relieved since my baby is about to be born and...well, I really want to be a father."

"You don't have to explain yourself. We're stronger than you all and have a much longer life. It's better this way. I hope your baby is healthy and you and your family have a happy life."

The man – a brown-haired youth with blue eyes and baby face – nodded, dolefully smiled, then proceeded to enter one of the small escape pods. The man, now in the presence of five other people, waved to Canada before shutting the door. Two sliding panels closed the entrance and the last thing Canada heard was the disinflation of the hatches right before the sound of the pod detaching and rockets shot the pod away from the ship, now heading to Earth as the final pod containing their human crew.

Was it better this way? Now the only thing on the line were them. Nations. Immortals. Powerful beings representing the lives of thousands of people... When Canada thought about it that way, their decision was really stupid. Tony knew what he was doing, though, right? They could trust him, and if he wanted the humans out of the way, then so be it.

Their previous argument echoed in his head.

"_I'm afraid having so many people will only cause trouble. We can't have so many liabilities, so i'm going to need all of your human crew to hightail it back to Earth." _

"_We're not liabilities! America is our country and we intend to save him!"_

"_America has a crew of his own probably being held captive – we can't make an escape with so many people to worry about. This isn't some stupid ocean war; this is outer space. With your technology we'll be lucky to outrun them, so I would love it if we were as light as possible should America's crew be alive and need transport back. This ship needs to be as hollow as possible. I'd send some of the nations back for their own safety, but they have the most experience in situations like these. You all were most likely only trained to manage this ship, and with my help that won't be necessary anymore. We'd be better off without you."_

Tony's blunt confession sent the human crew into a rage, but in the end they'd decided to oblige and leave. No one had considered America's crew until then. They'd been so worried about the leader, the crew had been completely ignored. Canada was glad Tony brought it up, otherwise they might have gone to save America only to fail in their escape because of their excess weight. Not to mention catering to so many people...how many had America taken? Twenty? Their armies were much more, but they had land to build tents during wars and allies to bring supplies. Their ship, limited in food and other supplies, could only accommodate so many.

Regretfully, Canada had agreed to sending every human home. China assured him they would monitor every capsule's location to ensure they returned safely. Knowing some were relieved with the news eased his guilt, but he was still sorry for those who had wanted to stay and fight alongside them. They were good people.

"America look-a-like!" Canada turned to see Tony standing at the end of the hallway. He suppressed the need to yell that_ he was CANADA_, and walked towards the waiting alien. "What's up, Tony?"

"We're ready to set sail, so to speak. The fucking limey told me to get you so you can command the ship."

"Oh, thanks...we should head back then." Tony nodded and the two walked side by side.

"You know...," Canada glanced at the speaking alien. "For being an America look-a-like you're really quiet. I mean, you were doing pretty good before, but after that you kinda faded into the background for me. Who made you leader?"

_The nerve_. Clenching his fists, the quiet nation took a breath to calm himself before speaking. He shouldn't blame Tony. He'd been absent during his rise to attention after America's disappearance. He still had America to compare him to. There was no harm to the question, because Tony was naturally blunt and rude. Yeah, that was it. "I was elected, sort of. Since i'm America's closest family and the one to suggest a rescue mission with England, it was only natural they pick me."

"Are you sure it's not because he looks like you?"

"Wha-what? No, of course not! They know i'm Canada now!"

"Hmm..."

"I've been doing very well leading this ship! Watch!" Canada speed-walked the the rest of the way and stormed through the doors to the main control room, taut faced and red. He saw everyone situated at their new posts.

England and Spain remained on navigation, but Germany and Sweden were on opposite sides of the front of the room, monitoring the engines, power, and other ship levels. Estonia and Japan were in charge of the same and also seated near the front, although they were seated next to each other right under the screen. Belarus was assigned control of the ship after proving she could handle it during a crisis and was seated next to Canada's post, ready whenever needed. France remained on food duty, but was stationed at a monitor left of the room (much to his chagrin) when cooking wasn't needed. Prussia sat to his right on the other side of the room, thrilled that his bus-boy duties were over for the time being. Russia remained as a knowledge source, but with Tony there he realized his knowledge wasn't needed, so he sat next to Belarus, dejected at his uselessness. Thankfully, he kept himself busy by teaching Belarus any information on the ship's controls she might have missed from the stolen manual.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE!" Canada screamed, or at least tried to. In reality his voice remained as quiet in comparison to normal screaming. Even so, it was the loudest any nation had ever heard him speak and all eyes were on the Canadian. He almost wanted to apologize for screaming so loud, his own head still throbbed from the earlier collision, but Canada refused to, knowing his brother wouldn't either. "L-let's get this party started! Set course for...uh, that red dot!" He pointed towards said dot on the map.

All was quiet until Tony burst through the door. "What this guy said!" He yelled, pointing slightly behind where Canada was standing.

Murmurs of "Ah, okay" and "Um...sure" were uttered as the nations tried to move their ship in the direction of the blinking dot. To them it was like trying to figure out how to drive again, only much more complicated. Tony could almost see the question marks above everyone's heads.

"You are all useless!" Tony skipped to Canada's control pad and pressed various buttons. The ship roared to life and, with some noises and grunts that unnerved some of the nations, shot forward much gentler than the first time they'd started the ship. The window allowed them to see how fast they were going, but no one shot backwards from the speed. "You're welcome," the alien told Canada as he substituted the alien in the chair.

"A-alright! So, what do we do when we find the enemy? Do we fight our way through?" He asked the alien hopefully.

"Psh, don't be silly. We'll find out when we get there."

"Oh maple..."

* * *

"Look at this beauty...i think i'm going to cry, man. It blowin' your mind yet or what?"

"It is a grand ship, America. I am glad your help accelerated rebuilding it. How much further until it is complete?"

America hummed and glanced at his ship. His crew were tirelessly repairing anything they could find, assisting Armin's own crew in fixing their ship. Originally they'd needed to fix almost every part of it. Armin's crew was really lost with their technology, so they had to start almost from scratch. Now, only the front of the ship needed work, as it had a broken window, engine, scratched paint, and bended metal. "Probably a couple of days? Your technology really sped up the process! Might even take less."

Armin silently cursed but continued to smile, acting as if the news overjoyed him when in reality it was devastating. "Well that's great! But we still have to complete our alliance contract. Can't forget about that before you leave!"

America, blue eyes and blonde hair shining in the room's white light, gave a thumbs up and grinned, his beatific features almost making Armin want to compare the man to one of the flowers on his planet. "No problem, dude! We can get that started after I finish helping my crew. My boss will be thrilled!"

"Oh ,yes of course. But take your time i'll – _ugh!_"

America started as his friend bended and lowered to the ground, holding his arms painfully close to his midsection. He crouched low, afraid to touch him but deeply concerned. "D-dude, are you alright?!" He moved to place a hand on his back when one of Armin's guards harshly pulled him away, speaking their language. America didn't know what the alien said, so he just tried to convince him he was innocent by waving his arms around and showing empty hands.

"_I-i'm fine! It...it's just a minor one. America did nothing_," he pleaded, his voice raspy and weak. Understaning the message, Armin's guards receded once they ensured he was fine. Once they were out of the way, America rushed to his friend, looking him over for blood or anything that could signal a wound.

"Dude, what happened?! You sure you're okay?"

"Ah, yes... It's just something that happens when there's trouble on my planet," he turned his head, almost as if he was embarrassed of the fact.

America knitted his brows, confused. "Your planet?"

"Yes. If you'll excuse me America, I need to go see what the problem is. We can discuss our alliance later." Armin stood shakily, using America's arm as leverage until he finally managed to balance himself on his own two feet.

America wasn't convinced. "Um, are you sure you can walk? I can go with you if you want. I'll even carry you!"

"N-no, that's alright. Excuse me." He turned and started for the door.

"W-well...okay." America watched Armin walk away and the door slide closed. He really wanted to help, but he wasn't sure his 'won't take no for an answer' attitude would fair well with him. Aliens were totally different from his own people, and he didn't want to risk getting eaten by some space creature for being pushy. Still, he hoped Armin would be fine. The alien looked paler than usual, which was almost ghost-white. That couldn't be good.

Something about what he'd said bothered America, though. He said something about his planet; that it was the cause of his pain. The way he reacted...it was like when he did when someone attacked his country.

Could he be...?

* * *

**A/N:** I did a total cop-out with removing the humans. I admit it. I regret nothing!

Review if there are any contradictions or misspelled words, please. I'm starting to think my document adds the misspellings by itself with how many i've missed in the past.


	9. Chapter 9- Friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or whoever publishes the world atlas.**

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After hammering and hammering, the metal plate refused to give and America let out a wail of frustration at the uncooperative piece of scrap. "This shit won't straighten!" He angrily slammed the hammer onto the dent once more, only to have it dent inward deeper from the force. America gasped and frantically hovered his hands above the dent, hoping to everything he loved and held dear that no one saw his blunder. Unfortunately, his dear ones did not love him at that moment.

"You okay up there?" America could have sworn the kid was a woman, but with the whole 'I'm gender-less' thing Armin's race had going on, America couldn't really call her...him – _whatever – _anything without knowing their name. He settled on naming her female for now. Definitely the most feminine looking alien he'd seen yet, even more so than Armin what with her long pale-yellow hair (tied finely into a braid), round yet soft face, long eyelashes, and pink lips.

At this moment America really wished the young ones were the same everywhere so he could pass it off as something funny and avoid revealing anything drastic to the young engineer. He laughed nervously. "Yeah! Nothing wrong – what are you doing? No need to come up here! Everything's fine!"

The big-eyed pale alien easily maneuvered past America's makeshift shield. Her eyes widened once she took a look at the dent. "Whoa, sir. You have quite the arm! Or did you use a really strong hammer? That's quite the dent."

_Curse my super strength. No – wait, my strength is awesome! Curse my weak ship! No, wait...i love my ship. Dammit, I can't blame anyone._

"Oh, the dent was pretty deep already. I just hit it too hard and made it bigger. Pretty stupid, huh?"

"Wasn't most of the dent you were fixing outward, though?"

"Nope!"

Thankfully, the girl seemed to buy his lie (albeit not without a curious look) and left him to his mistake to attend to another broken part of his ship. America sighed internally with relief.

Call him paranoid, but after the deal with Armin the day (he'd slept so he assumed a day had passed) before he didn't want to risk revealing anything about his Nationism (as he called it) to anyone. He'd informed his crew to remain silent about his super strength and status as an immortal country on Earth, going as far as to have them hide any maps with his name on it.

He didn't want anything leaked before he confirmed Armin's own status on his planet.

The symptoms were right to assume suspicion, but what if it was normal for Armin's species to feel their homeland's pain? It happened in a lot of comic books America read; the person would be tuned in with the environment and feel it – sometimes even talk to it.

_Armin was the only one to react, though. _

Maybe he is a shaman? A psychic? Someone with enough status to warrant plant-speaking powers. After all, who'd ever heard of a personification for an entire _planet_? There had to be minor provinces with their own personification somewhere, even if the entire planet was united under one rule. Would asking about immortal humanoids of dirt and plant matter be nonsensical?

At this point, America tried to wait patiently for another sign of 'Nationism', but his patience was wearing thin. He itched to ask Armin, but what if his suspicions proved to be wrong? He could end up giving information that might put his entire planet in peril. Some hero he would be _then_.

No, he had to wait. Maybe bring up the incident again once Armin called him in for, what he'd dubbed, their 'Earth 101' sessions. No matter how many books or objects he showed to the alien, Armin remained as curious as ever. This time America would use his curiosity to good use.

Even then, America didn't know what to do with the information if he deemed it true. On one hand: Finding an alien nation made him giddy. It meant he, along with everyone else on Earth, was not alone. There were others like him in the galaxy who knew his life. Other potential friends who could _know_. Whom he didn't have to hide anything from not just because they were the same, but also _understood_.

On the other hand: The danger in revealing his identity remained ever present. He was in the hands of a foreign, powerful being. One of Earths biggest superpowers was in the hands of someone whose ship could possibly swallow their moon. What if Armin was only friendly when oblivious? What if he was like every other rich guy who drank innocently and turned traitor the second greed stepped into the picture? Armin didn't seem that way, but you never know!

"America, sir?"

Startled, the zoned-out blonde jumped and turned to see one of his own staring at him curiously. America recognized him as Jean, a broad shouldered male with black hair and minor stubble. The man pointed a long finger towards the small canyon on the ship's side. He leaned close and whispered, "Mr. America, you might want to fix the dent before Armin comes to check for you. I don't think he'll take your excuse as lightly as the other alien did. We are fine with keeping your secret, but we can't deny something he'll see with his own eyes. That is a very large dent."

"A-ah, right. Thanks Jean. Hand me that funny vacuum thing, will yah?"

After successfully smoothing the surface of the previously damaged metal, America moved to the next broken mess on his ship. He didn't complain about the damage further. The sooner they finished, the sooner they could go home. As much as he liked adventure, he was tired of being an outsider. He wanted the comfort of home and nothing more than to flop down on his couch for an evening of movies and ice cream.

He wanted to arrive home a hero, see the relief on everyone's faces for his safe return, and brag about his experience. He hadn't planned to face an alien (although he'd hoped, despite Tony's warnings), but since he did it only increased his need to return home. With so much evidence, his boss _had_ to start up the space program again. His mission was a success and he'd gained a friend. He just needed to confirm it with the big boys back home and they could start a new chapter in history.

_I can't wait to get permission to have Tony in my house. He already lives there, but not having to hide him from the FBI will be great._

_I wonder why he isn't back yet?_

America assumed his gray friend simply might have stopped for a snack on the way. Tony was just that type of alien. However, America knew he wasn't irresponsible when it mattered. With the amount of time he's been gone, the nation just knew something happened. He worried each day for his friend, and even though he wanted to beg Armin to send a search crew to find him, America knew it was best to not mention his friend to anyone.

Tony had been very thorough with his explanations of alien customs. If his words were anything to go by, majority of species were lucky to travel near each other without hostility. For all America knew, Armin's species had a run-in with Tony's previously that soured their relationship. What if Armin turned on him for being acquainted? The trust they'd spent so long to build would crumble, and he (along with his crew) would be at the mercy of a scornful ship captain.

There was too much at stake to do anything but wait, as much as it irked him. Normally, he'd take action. It was in the blonde's nature to storm in rather than wait, but he couldn't risk an entire planet for his foolishness. For once, America had begun to consider the snark advice from other nations, mainly England, to make his decisions. Instead of storming in, he'd wait and plan out his escape. So far it was working, even if it took months to get so far. America was confident his hard work would pay off soon and everything would be fine.

America could only hope his friend's wit allowed him to seek shelter somewhere safe. Tony's brains remained a valid reason why America didn't worry too much about him. The little dude could handle himself.

An hour later America was seated in Armin's study answering more questions regarding his planet. He saw no harm in telling Armin about the culture; It was like giving away tourist information. So far Armin didn't seem interested in his government or military, which eased America's nerves knowing his new friend wasn't trying to steal secrets from him. America knew it was rude to suspect him of anything when they just became friends, but he saw his current predicament as a good reason to hold back complete trust.

Their session always reminded America of their first meeting. When he'd first arrived, America was a blabber mouth that never shut up. He wanted to know everything about alien life that Tony hadn't told him already and wasted no time to ask Armin about it. Disappointingly, there was only so much America could ask without prying too far, or having his question answered by a simple picture. Eventually, his never ending sea of questions shrunk to a trickle, then dried as his curiosities were answered or ignored for confidentiality reasons.

This time, however, America had a question of his own he was determined to have answered.

"Soooo, Armin...what was up with you yesterday?" _Smooth, America. Smooth._

Armin visibly froze. As much as he enjoyed America's company, answering questions pertaining to his 'condition' always pulled him into a sour mood. The pale captain glanced at his blonde friend (how wonderful to use that word!), studying his curious features. With wide sparkling blue eyes and a smile that should belong to a toddler, America seemed innocent enough in his inquiry.

From what Armin's read, friends tell each other everything as a sign of trust in America's planet. Things were similar on Velrys, but his people were more respectful of secrets and, if one was established, would not pursue to know. Respecting the unknown was their form of honesty – apparently not Earth's.

After seconds of silence, he gently placed the doll he'd been observing on his desk and scrutinized America. If he were to be honest with himself, sharing an Earth custom with America excited him. It meant they were closer than the average pair. For Armin, having a friend was rare and he didn't want to hurt his chances of getting closer with America. So before answering he asked, "Why do you want to know?"

America worried his question was too prying, but was thankful when Armin seemed to consider it and ended the awkward silence surrounding them. The question caught him off guard, though. Why _did_ he want to know? Curiosity, at this point. America wasn't well known for planning ahead, so he hadn't really thought about what he'd do with the knowledge. He was still apprehensive about revealing his own secret. "I'm just curious, I guess. You really worried me yesterday. I just want to know if maybe there is a way to help you or something."

Armin felt his chest tighten. America wanted to help him? He couldn't see how, but knowing the blonde cared appeased the alien. He leaned closer to the man and kept his voice low. "Can I trust you with a secret, America?"

His curiosity peaked, America nodded. "Of course!"

After waiting more seconds in anticipation, Armin deemed it okay and began. "I am the ruler of my planet. Remember how I told you my planet is ruled under one government?"

America nodded once more in understanding.

"Well, I am that government. I suppose you could say I am the planet and people as well. I don't know why or how, but as far back as I can remember my existence, my people have followed my lead without so much as a single protest. Because we are connected, I feel their pain along with the planet's. That is what you saw yesterday; something is going on in my planet causing me pains here and there."

America's heart beat rapidly with every word. Even if the alien did not know it, Armin had just admitted to being a nation. A _large_ nation, at that. Hell, he could call himself a planet in America's opinion. The blonde could barely see Armin through his glasses with how much his vision was blurring from the excitement. All he could picture were visions of Armin growing up, learning his place in the world like him before England came along. Did Armin have anyone to tell him, or did he figure it out by himself? How did his people react to his presence? They seemed more in tune with their personification than the humans back home, so did Armin have a more peaceful life devoid of civil wars? America became jealous at the thought. The visions switched from Armin to America's boss, the other nations, and their people mingling together.

Intergalactic peace treaties were possible now, because America had found a _nation_. He felt great and wondered if this was how the old geezers felt when they'd discovered him and the others in the new world. The feeling was exhilarating.

In his inner enthusiasm, America failed to notice his object of elation staring at him and awaiting a response to his confession. Armin coughed and America snapped out of his stupor. "Oh, sorry I kinda zoned out there...What is happening on your planet?"

Armin waved a hand dismissively. "It is fine. I'm afraid we are having an invader problem, but it is nothing we can't handle. What do you think of what I've told you?" That was his only interest at the moment.

_He's really nonchalant about invasions._ America composed himself and eyed his friend's worried features. He smiled. "I think it's pretty cool. I mean, that's too awesome to describe! Being the personification of an entire planet? Totally boss, yo." _Do I tell him? _Should_ I? I really want to, but..._

"Really?" Armin looked beyond relieved, and that only lifted America's mood further. "I'm glad, but... does your excitement mean you don't have something similar on your planet?"

America very much wanted to say _yes, yes I do because i'm one of them_! But for whatever reason he couldn't fathom he nodded in agreement. Armin had just revealed most likely his deepest secret to him and he couldn't confess it back? What was wrong with him?

Armin deflated, but remained smiling. America could see he was sightly disappointed in his answer, though, which only made him feel worse about not confessing his own. Why couldn't he do it?

"Hey Armin, have you met any other people like you?"

The pale being shook his head sadly. "No, I have not. That is why I am out here; to find another of my kind."

America had a thought. "So then the special companion you mentioned before...?"

"Yes, that is who I am searching for."

_Wow_, America thought. Armin's search for another of his kind had gone on for centuries. America only needed to wait around two for Finland to show up and bring the rest. How lonely would it be waiting much longer for one companion? America didn't think he would last, but here the alien was right in front of him...and he still couldn't bring himself to confess his identity.

Armin sensed his friend's distress and shook his head. He smiled genuinely. "However, after meeting you, I don't think I need to look anymore. You have brought me more than I could hope for in a friend, and I want to thank you for keeping me company in the time you've been here."

Wide-eyed, America could only stare. Armin's words touched his heart in their honesty and he was sure he'd burst out crying. No one had ever said anything like that to him – it was too sappy for people these days.

America, caught up in the moment, reached out and enveloped his friend in a hug. "D-dude, you're going to make me cry! I don't think I could say what you said without barfing rainbows, but you're an awesome friend too."

Shocked by the contact, Armin froze and let America hug him. This was a sign of affection, right? He'd seen it plenty of times and done the same to his people when needed, but having someone so strongly wrap him in their embrace and speak such kind words was a new experience. He realized he liked it.

America pulled back shortly and grinned. "I'm sure you'll find your companion some day. Until then you have my awesome self!"

Arming smiled sheepishly. "Thank you for the encouragement. Would you like to –"

A knock at the door. "Sir, one of America's crew is here to see him," spoke the muffled voice of Armin's bulky guard.

Slightly irritated at the interruption, Armin spoke to let whoever was outside enter.

Immediately Jean, black hair ruffled and breathing heavily while his face was drenched in sweat, stumbled in and fixed his gaze on America. "America, the ship is fixed!" He blurted ecstatically.

America jumped from his chair. "No way, really?! Armin man, sorry but I gotta see my _Freebird_ beauty in her glory. Mind if I go? You can come with an see her!"

Armin really didn't want to spend a moment with the rest of America's crew, so he shook his head. "I-It is no problem, go right ahead. I think I will be staying here longer."

"Alright man. Let's go Jean!" Both Americans stormed out of Armin's office, leaving a hollow silence in their absence.

Armin sighed from his chair and reclined his head onto his desk, his arms making a makeshift pillow.

It felt nice to have a friend, but knowing that very friend would leave in a matter of days after forming an alliance was heartbreaking. He only wished America could stay with him forever. He'd take him to Velrys and show him off to his people. Maybe make him his second in command? He wouldn't care. His citizens never protested to his decisions before, and he doubted they ever would so long as he kept their interests in mind and didn't turn dictator like so many other planets did. Fear-focused ruling didn't appeal to him.

A cramp in his side made him grunt in frustration. He lifted himself and rubbed his side.

His people were definitely happy, but more and more invaders were becoming insistent on infiltrating his barriers. He could feel some of their smaller bombs and debris from their ships crashing into his terra. Armin's own search would have to end soon in order to return and face the enemy. It was a miracle none of them had encountered his ship and tried to take him then. He thanked the asteroid field.

The asteroid field...what a wonderful invention. Not only did it keep him safe, but it brought him a friend. Completely worth what he'd paid for it.

He wondered if the ship from earlier managed to disintegrate in the crash. Did he ever order a salvage group? The ship looked primitive and, to be blunt, ugly. What riches could it possibly have? _None that I would need. I have all I want now, _he mused. The least he could do is check to make sure the wreckage did not leave a trail and inform other pirates he was nearby. He'd do that later, though.

After being left alone so abruptly in the middle of their bonding, Armin didn't feel like working, so he chose to make up whatever he might have missed about America's planet by reading more of the books he'd brought. He'd looked through many of the picture books and read few of the novels. Those he did read were too similar to each other to warrant more interest, so he figured he'd choose randomly in the picture books once more.

He saw a thin blue spine and pulled it from the pile. The cover was of a large circle, Earth only minimized to colored shapes of the continents, and had large, white, bold letters at the top reading "WORLD ATLAS." Armin flipped through it.

A map of Earth, huh? America had tried to show him a map, but the thousands of names that only shrunk in size the more specific a territory you inspected had turned him off from ever looking at it again. Space travel required maps, yes, but this was ridiculous. His planet barely had one hundred names on its map, and that mainly was to mark the terrain rather than towns.

This Atlas thankfully narrowed down each continent by page, so it was easier for Armin to distinguish. He read many names: England, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Russia, China. Small islands like Japan, Taiwan, and Hawaii as well. It seemed every large name had smaller ones in between, with each name being in its own language every time you crossed a marked border. It was all so strange – especially when he landed on someplace called "Iceland" whose names Armin could barely read. Did someone draw letters out of a hat to name that country? It was ridiculous how many different styles of names were in such small territories.

He flipped the page again, hoping to land on something as far away from 'Europe' as possible. His eyes trailed the page and stopped at the name above: "North America."

_What?_

Armin looked down and saw the large territory called 'Canada' in big bold letters. He almost stopped to read the territories, but his eyes looked down long enough to notice the country right below.

He read it aloud in disbelief, "United States of...America?"

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**A/N**: There should be about one or two more chapters after this before both parties meet. Then i start to mess shit up for the sake of drama. I'm looking forward to it.

Nothing against Iceland. I think it's pretty funny. I'm really good at reading foreign names, but that...that place was too much.

Anyway, review and whatnot~ I see other people telling their readers too and i'm assuming that's what i'm supposed to do. Don't get me wrong, though, i LOVE reading reviews.


	10. Chapter 10- Teams

**A/N:** Pre-chaos warning: I recently got a job that takes up quite of my day and week. I wrote this chapter during because they haven't trained me and i just sat there and did nothing all week, but i don't know how busy it's going to get once they do train me. In addition, I have been assigned with the tedious task of making Anime-themed decorative pinatas for Anime Fest and the Paper Maché bastards are being really difficult.

In short: If I miss a week, don't be surprised. I would blame it on the pinatas.

I'll also be starting college classes by the end of August, so don't even think about it if I miss a week after that. Regardless, I WILL keep this story updated. I made myself a promise in the beginning not to be one of those writers who takes months to update. I intend to keep that promise. Once September ends everything should get less chaotic.

On a positive note, I would like to thank everyone who has read/favorites/reviewed this story! Ten chapters may not be much, but it's a huge milestone for me. The most chapters i've ever written before was...five?

For a really bad story, no less. Trust me when I say that that story was terrible and deserves to die. MUCH worse writing than in this story. I think I drew some manga pages for it too, lol. But anyway, thank you all! I hope you are still enjoying the story because it's about to get crazy from here on in.

_THE SCIENCE IN THIS IS TERRIBLE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED._

**_Disclaimer: Don't own any part of Hetalia._**

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"Is...is that it?" Canada stared dumbfounded at the large image stretched across their screen.

The image showed their enemy's ship. Sleek and very, _very _large, the vessel looked to be composed of two different contraptions: one the front of a spacecraft that curved down to connect with a dome-like shape in the back fixed with a rudder and keel. The vessel's bow held a single antenna, was defined and ended below the entire transport, but held no figurehead like its shape would suggest. Its entire smooth form reflected various stars in the distance and, frankly, looked magnificent floating in the blackness of space. From the distance they were viewing it onscreen, it could easily be an extraterrestrial cruise ship. England would be proud to command such a ship, even if it held no sails.

Needles to say, the large transport intimidated every nation and struck fear into their chests knowing their mission would not end until they infiltrated the surely planet-sized craft. From what they were seeing, their opponent had more than enough power to render them hopeless should they get caught.

Tony nodded once to Canada's question. "That's it."

England scrunched his nose and his left eye twitched. "Bloody hell...perhaps this was not such a jolly good idea after all."

"England, your British is showing."

"You sush!"

"I don't think you guys thought this through very well. Our resources won't reach you in time to help you infiltrate the ship. We are still trying to safely land the crew you sent back," China, projected on the monitor next to Canada's podium, informed. Mexico had taken the job of securing the safety of the returning crew, so China stepped up to assist the nations in her absence.

Canada agreed with China, but did not voice it. His violet eyes were still glued to the large spacecraft onscreen.

"Um, Tony...you never mentioned just HOW big this enemy would be. You can't really be expecting us to embark on _that_, right?" He asked, turning to the alien.

"To be honest, I didn't think America would end up on a ship from Velrys."

"So you know this ship's origins?" Russia asked. He hoped the nonchalance was a sign that their enemy's intimidating ship did not hold the same inside, and retrieving America would be a breeze. Tony's now slouched shoulders failed to support his hopes.

"All too well..."

Germany narrowed his eyes. The alien's defeated look did not satisfy him. "You don't sound positive. What can you tell us about this ship?"

"Well..."

Where should he start? Velrys, the planet of sunshine and stardust oozing wealth and great commerce, was known as an orb of utopian bliss. Notorious for abundant resources and its attraction to stardust – the priceless gold of the universe that birthed only when a star died – Velrys' fame spread across the galaxy.

No one ever received permission to learn why, but the planet was littered with the stellar debris on almost every grain of dirt and living cell. Unlike most planets, though, it was highly noticeable and gave off an almost dreamlike image. The cosmic dust was so ingrained into the planet, its people were known to mimic its image with their pale, almost transparent, skin that would often glow during times of great solace and peace, usually when their three moons or meteors reflected off the night sky and caused every citizen to glisten in the moonlight. The planet looked like a chrome pillow laced with sugar and floating glitter, gracing those unused to the feeling with intense euphoria. Visitors from across the galaxy would flock to see the planet and its people shimmer with the stardust. The sight was one to behold, and aliens across the globe craved to own the paradise.

The planet's peaceful picture failed to show the sheer power of its ruler, though. For centuries and possibly longer, Velrys remained untouched by invaders and other unfriendly types. Wars there were famous for lasting hardly a week, and were so common now that the word failed to be used to describe the attempts at invasions. Velrys' appointed leader, simply known as 'Armin,' successfully kept his home and citizens from succumbing to another's power since its creation - a feat amazing in its own right. He is known to plant various traps around his planet and instruct his people in defense, should they encounter a rogue who managed to land safely on their land.

Simply breaking through his defensive barriers and equally deadly offensive second barrier requires a miracle. But, should that miracle succeed in landing you on Velrys, it is often fabled that luck be the only tool successful enough to help escape the wrath of the people. As peaceful as they were, following orders from their king

Pirates and other conquerors alike see Velrys as a challenge, ne that –should anyone succeed in completing – will earn respect and the greatest prize in the sector. Unfortunately, no one has and Velrys remains untouched to this day.

Tony read on from his tablet device until he reached the end of the article. He looked up to the listening nations. "That's basically all I know."

Prussia cocked a white brow. "Didn't you just read that from an article?"

"I've read the article before, dumb-ass. What, did you think I could memorize the entire thing and tell you word for word?"

"Now listen here you little fu - "

"Tony," Germany interrupted, "What can we expect from the adversary? If what you say is true, then this alien is obviously paranoid and wary of strangers. If America managed to convince him to accept a stranger, then he might not be willing to release him easily."

Tony shrugged. "I can't really say since I've never met him. He's powerful and has the support of many allies and resources. The giant ship proves that. He could be an okay guy if he prefers peace, but if the guy happens to be an asshole, we're going to be up against one powerful sonofabitch."

"So what do we do right now?"

"I think we should split up." All eyes focused on Prussia.

"What makes you say that?" England questioned.

"Well, this guy is rich, right? So he's going to have tons of guards protecting his ship."

"He also still has the asteroid field," Tony added. Curious glances made his way and he explained, "We followed it here, which means it's back in its original post. Once it senses us or someone onboard senses us – and believe me, they will – it will come back to finish the job. I agree with fucking whitey."

Prussia almost retaliated at the offensive nickname, but his ego refused to acknowledge it when the alien agreed with his idea. He grinned confidently. "Yeah! Like my awesome self said, we should split up to keep the enemy off-track! One to keep their attention on the ship, while the other sneaks onboard and rescues America."

"That's actually not a bad idea…," Canada admitted, index finger and thumb under his chin. "But is it really safe to split up? If we keep the ship as a decoy, which is very dangerous in itself, then that means we'd have to send one of the smaller escape pods to infiltrate the other vessel. It would be very vulnerable and those onboard could easily die."

All was quiet. Although they'd agreed to the mission knowing the risks and proclaimed to accept it, none of them felt they were ready to risk it all yet. If they were honest, the humans were to be used as decoys before they would, but that option disappeared along with the missing escape pods. At that point, their persons were to be the only expendables available.

In spite of all they'd already been through, the actual mission started with their next move. Their pride as nations, who'd lived past countless wars, refused to allow them death at such an infant state.

"Do you want to save America, or not?" Tony sneered.

"I do! But we can't go risking it all on something we aren't sure of! Unlike you aliens, we are not experienced in space travel and had to work hard just to build this one ship!"

"How sad."

The alien's taunting only enraged Canada. Their previous encounter left a sour note in his gut, and he had not forgiven the alien for questioning his position. They needed Tony, but Canada was confident even he could make a plan now that the enemy was within their sights.

Anger boiled in his stomach, ready to be released. Only this time, all sights were on him. America's absence meant he would be heard. Everyone would _listen _to what he had to sayrather than politely apologize for not even noticing his presence.

Canada's chance to unleash his rage upon the alien never came, for Sweden grunted and brought everyone's attention to the monitor table he currently occupied. He pointed towards a blinking dotted line, heading straight towards the figure representing their ship.

"Something is heading towards us," Japan observed, his usually deadpanned expression wrinkled with concern.

"It's the asteroid field," said Tony. "We don't have much time, a couple of hours or so, so I suggest you bastards hurry the fuck up and decide what you want to do before your ship gets pummeled. We still need to prepare and crap."

Multiple pairs of eyes met each other, often switching to another color or shade, contemplating their choices.

As much as he wanted to lead, Canada realized their only option was probably their best option, and he'd have no choice but to hand leadership to the much more knowledgeable alien for now.

"A-alright! We'll split up, but who's going with whom?"

"Should we flip coins again?" Spain suggested, holding up the coin used earlier.

"Are you daft? We can't decide something so critical on a coin!"

"Then we will depart on our skills!" All eyes focused on Russia. The beige-blonde turned to his sister and placed both hands on her shoulders, earning a curious look from the female. "You will stay here." Belarus' eyes widened, as did her mouth, but Russia continued before she could protest. "You have proven to be skilled at maneuvering this ship out of harms way. If anyone can steer it to safety while the second group infiltrates the enemy, it is you." Belarus remained wide-eyed, but otherwise quiet. She was filled with joy from her brother's praise.

Russia did not want to use his sister's infatuation to manipulate her, but he knew she would be most useful on the ship – possibly safer as well, so he continued and hoped his encouragement was enough to convince the pale woman to stay. "I trust you sister. Will you do this for me?" He gave his most sincere smile, similar to the one he always wore only truthful (for the most part) in its intentions.

In that moment, nothing was more important to Belarus than her brother. Her mind clouded with his kind words, she nodded, a goofy smile on her dazed face.

Satisfied, Russia turned to his fellow nations. "Then I will be going with Canada, whom I assume will be going, seeing as he is our leader." He looked to Canada who in turn nodded to confirm. Russia smiled his usual smile then, and eyed the remaining nations. "Who is staying with my sister? I suggest those not combat-ready."

Everyone stood frozen, nobody willing to accept staying with the crazed woman. Eventually, Estonia sighed and raised his arm, figuring he was too used to her psychotic tendencies for it to affect him anymore. Japan soon followed, offering companionship to his partner and not willing to jump into combat just yet. Belarus had proven herself to him, so Japan was not as worried about the asteroid field as he was about hostile aliens. Estonia smiled gratefully.

Spain and France offered to stay, as did Sweden, but Tony grabbed his rising hand before it could reach any higher. "I think you should come with us. You look scary enough to frighten our enemy."

Although the comment offended Sweden, he accepted anyway. Finland had informed him once about his naturally scary face; he supposed it might as well be put to use.

"In that case I think I should go! I'm the most intimidating here," proclaimed Prussia.

"Your big mouth would get all of us killed before we could even introduce ourselves." Prussia advanced on the alien until Germany pulled him back by the neck of his uniform. Tony ignored the threat and roughly exhaled, angered that America's kind took so long to decide on something. No wonder their planet was a mess. "Why don't you just let your supposed _leader_ choose? I'm goddamn sick of hearing all of you argue about decisions!"

A pause before, begrudgingly, all attention turned to Canada. Said nation was not prepared for the onslaught of eyes, but seeing Tony's almost smug smirk angered him to no end, so he faced his crew's wrath and called out names for the groups.

"England, Prussia, Estonia, Japan, France, Spain, and Belarus will stay here. The rest will be going with me to meet with their leader."

"What?! How could you leave me out?!" Prussia bellowed. Canada could feel a headache forming from the outburst. He sharply turned his head to the albino nation and focused his irritated eyes on him. **"Are you_ questioning _me?" **

Prussia shrieked and stepped back at the almost malicious tone of Canada's voice. The nation's usually soft violet eyes were darkened to an almost dark-blue and his mouth formed a sharp frown. Prussia shook his head and lifted his arms in mock-surrender. "N-no way! I'll stay!"

Canada almost felt guilty making the albino, one of the few who recognized him as Canada from the beginning, frightened, but with Tony's scrutinizing gaze and his inner struggle to differentiate himself from his brother,Canada did not feel like "putting up with people's shit" as America would have said. As much as the alien was annoying him now, Tony was correct when he mentioned their constraint on time. They couldn't rush this like they did in the beginning. Whatever time they had left before the asteroid reached them needed to be capitalized on. Any mistakes would be costly – Canada understood that much.

His decision made, Canada ordered his crew to prepare. Food, supplies, fuel – weapons; it all needed to be stocked into packs and onto an escape pod, as well be prepared somewhere on the ship for those staying to utilize.

Steadfast in their assigned chores, every nation prepared each request to the smallest detail. If they were not in the control room, they were preparing the rest of the ship for their mission - nothing could be overlooked.

Seeing everyone follow his orders filled Canada with pride. Is this _really_ what America always felt? He could grow addicted to the feeling. Much of the contentment was knowing that people were not ignoring him, but the idea that everyone basically achieved world peace because of his orders also excited him. It was a great feeling to be noticed.

Just as he turned around, Canada found himself face to face with England, who'd been waiting for him to finish instructing the others. The Englishman anxiously looked at his second former charge.

"C-canada, lad… why did you not put me in your group? You know I can be of use with you."

Images of the revolution flashed through Canada's mind. He couldn't help but feel as if choosing to separate mimicked America's knack for rebellion. _I have a good excuse._ Of course, England was unaware of Canada insecurities. Should he tell him? It would surely make the Englishman feel better about being left behind. However, Canada did not want England to regain control.

Throughout their trip England took a stand when the duty supposedly fell on Canada. He'd make decisions and enforce them, just as a nation should – all the while Canada stood back or fell unconscious, ignored once more in the battles similarly fought on Earth during the monthly world meetings, only to be acknowledged when it was greed the 'leader' make their final decision.

For once, Canada did not want to be ignored during a national argument. He wanted to kick and scratch as well, and prove Canada held a force to be reckoned with.

If he expressed his insecurities, England would belittle him, intentionally or not – it was just in the tea-loving nation's character to do so. Canada would be giving England permission to coddle him like when he was his colony, just because he admitted to feeling weak as a leader. The wavy-blonde did not want that. He did not want someone's comfort; he wanted recognition.

There were times when each nation faced a large struggle that would define their person. Canada believed it had already happened when he gained independence just as America did, but standing there as a leader of a strong crew, in front of his previous caretaker on a mission to rescue his superpower brother, somehow he knew his real chance was then and would continue until they rescued America.

Canada looked down at his former caretaker. Their heights, although only different by a few centimeters, gave Canada more confidence in his leadership.

"England, I know you like to lead, but I can't have the entire crew go out. It would be best if you stayed here as temporary leader and monitor everyone. I can handle the others."

"Are you sure? It will be quite dangerous."

"So is staying here."

"With that whack lass and gobby albino? The asteroids are the least of my worries at this point. But I suppose you are right…Are you sure you can handle It on your own?"

"I'm America's brother. As much I hate being compared to him, I can't deny we have similarities. I may not be as physically strong, but my country isn't part of the G8 for no reason."

The certainty emitting from those words made England smile. He complied and went to instruct his part of the crew. He figured meddling in a growing boy's life would be pointless at this stage, and let Canada to embark on his own journey.

Four hours later after everyone had been fed, cleaned, rested (mainly Spain), and geared for their part of the mission, the signal went off.

The beeping throughout the ship surprised everyone, but only seconds later all the nations raced to the control room where their final meet up would be.

Tony, having already been in the control room for quite some time calibrating most of their weapons and directional gears, typed a code in and soon the large screen showed an all-too familiar asteroid field heading their way. "It's on bitches! Let's get the fuck out here!" He sped away towards the escape pods.

Canada followed, also leading his group (Sweden, Russia, and Germany) to the same destination.

Everyone's supplies were already there, and they'd changed to their space-travel suits earlier (really the same outfit only fit with slightly thick pads and a helmet supplied with oxygen should they need to exit their ship). All that needed to be done was separate from the ship, and they'd be on their way towards enemy lines.

Tony did not seem bothered and hollered, "Don't die while we're out!" before entering the fairly cramped pod.

Prussia walked by to give Germany a one-armed embrace ('bro hug' as he'd named it) before walking back and allowing Germany to enter the pod next. Sweden followed silently, then Russia after receiving a very tight hold from his passionate sister. Canada stayed behind only a moment to wave to England and the rest of his crew, mouthing a silent 'goodbye'. With a grin he hoped worked as well as America's, complete with thumbs up and shining white teeth, he stepped into the now cramped pod. The door close, sealed, and all that remained was quiet among the team.

Canada decided to break the silence and encourage his teammates. "Ready to save America you guys?"

"Oh for fuck's sake, man. Just dislodge this thing already. We're wasting time," Tony grumbled.

All four nations in the pod glared, but Russia chose not to waste time anyway and pulled the lever next to his left. There was a release of gas, a buckle, and the pod began to slowly float from the T_he Nation_.

Back on the ship, the warning beeping grew louder as the oncoming danger neared their vessel.

Belarus sat poised at the podium, hands on the controls and a determined glare on her face. Spain, France, and Prussia were seated near the front, ready to unleash hell on the space rocks threatening them. Tony had unlocked majority of the weapons for them and Prussia had been all too eager to name the Bad Touch Trio as the offense.

Estonia and Japan remained towards the back, at the ready on a virtual map that would show a proper course to take in avoiding the asteroids and still head towards the large enemy ship.

England stood tall next to Belarus, green eyes blazing and trained on their obstacle. He felt powerful, just like in his pirate days. He almost wanted to thank America for going missing so he could experience that power once more.

"Be ready, everyone! Starship B-47: _The Nation_ will not go down!"

* * *

**A/N2**: Learning time: According to what I read (and when you think about it it's pretty simple), stardust is basically the carcass of a dead star. All those particles eventually combine to create something else. Earth was essentially stardust at one point. The special thing about Armin's planet is that a lot of the stardust did not mix and remained as glowing debris. His people are unaffected, but I would assume that the chemicals floating around the air would act as a harmless drug to anyone unused to being around it. In addition to its drowsy affect, it still glows and would look like fairy/pixie dust in the air, and glitter on a solid surface.

Needless to say, Armin's planet would look like a really gorgeous, shiny digital drawing. The glitter above a lake at night? The northern lights? Yeah, Armin's planet is covered in that.

I also went crazy trying to make England sound more British. I went to the UK Yahoo! and found some hilarious lines in article comments. Forgive me if i made him sound stupid.

Review if i missed or contradicted anything. I miss a lot of stuff, trust me.


	11. Chapter 11- Enemies Ahead

**A/N**: Pff, stayed up until 1am trying to finish when I realized I had work in the morning.

* * *

Armin sped through the hallways of his ship. With every step his chest beat faster and his hands refused to still, jittering constantly and curling to try and calm the fire burning within them.

_Could it be…?_

Armin tried to come up with reasonable theories to explain why America was named after a conformed piece of land on his planet – a _country_, as he'd called them. Similar to his own governed planet only much smaller and part of a network of other countries and smaller territories called states, cities, towns, etc. Perhaps his birth parents worshiped their home and named it in honor? It would not be the first time some blessed mother tried the same on his planet. Many of his citizens were against it, arguing it would only cause confusion and unwanted attention to the child, so no mother ever succeeded in doing so. Secretly glad, Armin always named the child himself as a token of thanks to the mother should they have no backup name.

Did Earth share the same customs? Did America gain permission to be named after his country? Come to think of it, Armin could not recall America ever mentioning what country he was from. He knew the man was born on Earth, but never which specific territory.

Did he simply forget to mention it? Is he hiding things?_ I never asked, did I? All of those different countries confused me, so I never inquired on the specific location of his birth. _Quickly recalling their conversations, Armin remembered the man being enthusiastic when talking about the 'United States.' America favored the territory above all others, and Armin mentally berated himself for not paying attention to the maps earlier long enough to notice the alternative name to the territory: The United States of _America_.

Armin needed to ask; ask before America left. Armin refused to allow the man to leave so easily. He still had their treaty as a means to keep the sunny blonde aboard his ship, but with his precious transport fixed America only needed to review and sign the already finished paperwork to be on his way. Armin had no time to think of another excuse, one that would successfully convince his friend to stay longer, which meant Armin had to ask his inquiry immediately.

But then what? America would leave, and should Armin receive the answer he craved, what would be his next choice of action?

_I could force him to stay, _crept into his mind, but Armin dismissed the thought immediately. He understood the pain of fighting for the freedom of your country - he felt it practically ever mood cycle - and had no desire to input such feelings into his friend.

Waging a war with himself made his head throb, and the vacillating pains resulting from his planet's predicament did not ease the alien's boiling stress. The reconnaissance group he'd sent out while America repaired his space vessel sent news of continued attacks by foreign invaders. The tarnished fiends apparently decided to team up and take advantage of his absence. Armin trusted his citizens could handle it – they always did – but the constant aches retaliation caused on his body weakened and stressed him out.

Armin didn't want to look frail in front of America. Especially now, with seemingly so many secrets between them. Someone who had millions of lives counting on his leadership could not risk exposing weaknesses, but even with the doubt Armin still hoped America answered in his favor.

In his inner tirade, Armin refused to acknowledge the guards following his rushing steps, urgently asking for his attention. Armin refused to comply and instead barged into the engineer room where America's ship sustained two waves of repairs. Instantaneously, all eyes were on him; some curious while others deadpanned, more focused on wiping the ship's surface clean with a rag. Armin trailed his eyes across the room until they met with the sky-blue pair he sought.

America, seated on a shining blue wing of his repaired ship, focused on the alien as he entered and grinned, eyes full of pride as he waved an arm across the newly fixed vessel. "Hey, bro! Isn't my baby a beaut?"

The startled captain stopped, caught off-guard by the shine in America's smile. Had he ever seen America smile so genuinely? To say the man smiled constantly was an understatement, but not once did he see the blonde expel such joy in the five (close to six, now) months he'd been on his ship. Armin grew slightly jealous that even his connection to stardust could not bring about such a smile like the measly ship did. He wished he could bring America to his world, to feel his planet's bliss-stained atmosphere. He was sure it would impress America more than a measly piece of machinery.

Focused once more on his pursuit, Armin stepped forward just as America bounced off the wing and onto the white floor, making a loud _thump_ as he skillfully landed. "It is a wonderful ship, America," Armin began, forming a small smile.

"Dude, I know right?! My baby _Freebird_ is all fixed up! We can go home!" At that, he turned to his crew, arms wide above his head and 'hero' grin ever present. His tired crew; covered in oil, dust, and other debris; cheered at the declaration. Armin could feel his eye twitch uncontrollably. He willed himself to remain calm and hide the panic burning his insides.

"Ah, yes that is true... But i have something urgent to discuss with you. "

"Oh, is it the treaty? No problem. We still have to prepare supplies and stuff, so I'll probably be here another day before we take off. That should be enough time to get it finalized and ready for my boss!"

The news lifted Armin's hopes, but not enough to quench his curiosity and need to keep the man in his care. He could feel a deep pain in his abdomen from hearing America mention his boss. The fact that he was not the leader of his territory lowered the possibility of the blonde being the same being as him. _But there is still a chance,_ Armin persisted. To the desperate alien, America was a precious friend he could not afford to lose. He refused to admit defeat, determined to keep hope alive that America was what he thought – _hoped _– he was.

"That would be fine, but I would appreciate it if we could speak of this now," he said, staring at the confused blonde intently. America looked almost reluctant, the look Armin gave him honestly freaking him out, but began to form words to accept.

Armin felt relieved, until one of his guards interrupted and insisted Armin listen to his message. Armin had ignored their presence until then, but the soldier before him was persistent. As Armin noticed him further, he noted the crew member was of the highest position: A general and commander, smart, large in built, and ready for battle should anything endanger their leader. The impatience in his eyes gave Armin the message of urgency, but the stardust-born being still pushed to be left alone.

"Why can't this wait?" He snapped, genuinely irritated with his citizen.

The crew man, unprepared for his usually composed captain to loose face, stepped back, waited a second, then approached his irritated captain once more. He kept quiet, not wanting to provoke anger from his normally kind leader, and bent to Armin's height. The muscular alien whispered something, retelling the message he'd received earlier and led him to seek out his captain.

America, curious, tried to make out the words, but from the bits he could hear they were speaking in their own language. He could make out no part of the message, so resolved to stand back with his crew and their ship while the two aliens conversed.

After a moment, Armin nodded and motioned for his cluster of alien supporters to disperse. They looked reluctant, but complied with the command and left. Once alone with America and his crew in the echoing room harboring lifeless machinery and tools, Armin turned to the human he desperately wished to know all about, but could only ask so much because their friendship's closeness seemed to be farther than he originally believed. With such depressing thoughts, Armin considered ignoring his general's message and risking danger to his people, all just to have America remain safely on his ship. It would be pointless and hypocritical, he knew, but the idea remained in case he chose to act on it later. Although, he dearly hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"I deeply apologize for having to leave so much in the midst of matters, America, but I'm afraid I have to attend to something urgent. We will have to postpone discussing our alliance until some other time. Until then, I suggest you prepare any supplies you might require on your journey back home." He laced each word with silk, masking the bitterness he felt towards them. It was necessary, though. He couldn't let America know about his intentions. He needed to sound convincing, _happy_ that his friend would be returning home. A 'hero', as he'd like to refer to himself sometimes.

Unlike previous times, though, America did not want to be useless. His ship was fixed, and whatever enemy gave his new friend trouble had to answer to the hero! He refused to be vulnerable any longer.

"Wait, Armin!" He called, waiting for the pale being to stop from leaving and face him before he continued. "What's going on? Maybe I can help you this time! My baby may not be huge like yours, but she kicks major ass."

Unsure of how to respond but seeing nor harm out of informing the human of their situation (doing so might strengthen his argument for him to stay), Armin nodded. "I was just about to go check. You may accompany me if you'd like."

America fist-pumped and waved to his crew. He followed Armin through the door and onward past many hallways, occasionally passing more of the alien crew. "According to what my subordinate tells me, there is a ship headed our way," Armin began.

"Whoa, you mean like another alien space ship?"

"Yes. Except this ship is one I've encountered before. That time in the lunch where I had to leave you? The same ship had neared our borders at the time and fallen victim to a trap." Armin didn't feel the need to tell America that the same trap had been planted by Armin and wrecked his vessel. What he didn't know would not hurt him, right? That incident was behind them.

"That's pretty cool! So what happened? Did you chase it away?"

"Ah, no... The trap we set was pretty destructive and it looked like they would not make it, so I took no action against them figuring they would die on the scene."

America stopped, eyes wide and mouth agape as he stared in shock at his friend. "W-wait...so you left them to die? Were they invaders?"

Armin stopped as well, turned to his friend, and gave him a questioning look. Why_ does he look so shocked?_ Armin wondered. His course of action was normal should he see a threat to his people. After all, he's had problems with allowing wandering and 'stranded' strangers on-board, and it ended up costing him later. Learning from his mistakes, Armin did not take chances with those who fell into his defense systems. He told America such, but the blonde still looked horrified.

"What if they were just innocent people hanging around and lost? I mean, you let me on."

"America, hardly anyone travels around like i do. If anyone is voyaging around 'lost,' they are most likely pirates attempting to infiltrate ignorant ships. I am a prime target and have to take many defense and precautionary procedures to ensure we do not fall for anyone's tricks. I am lucky you were not one of them when I allowed you to board my ship."

America could understand that. He hardly trusted anyone anymore with the threats of terrorism and spies leaking in every day, but leaving a possibly innocent traveler to die still struck him as being too harsh. But even with his heroism tick, America understood Armin's position and his choices. He would respect them so long as he was on his ship, although the feeling of uncertainty remained.

Even after trying to hide it, America resembled an open-book to Armin, who caught on to his hesitance. The alien smiled, hoping to reassure his friend; calm his obviously different morals, if you will. "America, I assure you this is basic protocol. The sector we currently travel through is mine, both in paper and reputation. Whoever that is has trespassed and be dealt with by our defense mechanism and given an opportunity to retreat. We've tried contacting them before, but they never answered so we have to assume they are hostile or risk our entire voyage."

As a nation, America understood all too well. After years of precaution, he still tried to have an open mind, but he couldn't push Armin to agree with his ideas like back home. America was loud and obnoxious, he knew, but he truly did know what common courtesy was. He just chose not to use it to prevent others trampling over him. As a super power, you had to fight for everything. However, no matter how much America wanted to, no matter how much the burning need to defend those unprotected by Armin's powerful trap, he couldn't. Unlike at world meetings, arguing with Armin risked more than Germany's temper.

Armin understood his own world while the American did not. What did America know about handling invaders? Zilch. America had been colonized faster than he could learn to write, and depended on England so much in his infancy and until his late teens. The Revolutionary War separated them, but did he ever grow out of their partnership?

_No, we still have that stupid 'Special Relationship' thing. And he dumps a lot of his shows and musicians on me. My citizens accept them wholeheartedly.  
_

Yes, America was a large superpower, but what did he know out here in space? Armin had experience. America suspected him of being a nation, so why question his decisions when he'd gone centuries without being conquered, and his people remained peaceful to where he was the only leader they wanted? America tried to do the same, but his people tore each other apart every day.

He could _learn_ from Armin; he just had to observe.

America remained quiet and nodded, obeisant.

Without further outbursts, Armin continued to lead them down the white hall, their shoes echoing in the relatively empty ones, past several turns and other workers until they reached a large door. It slid to the left easily and allowed them entry to a room America viewed in awe. Shrouded in darkness, the room's light came from hundreds of monitors suspended from tall, curved walls, some holographic and others not, tracked images and video recordings from all around the ship and their outer barriers. The room could be a really good gaming room in America's opinion, but the peaceful images of stars, comets, faraway planets, and even Armin's ship were equally entrapping.

After spending some time taking in the entire setup, America stepped beside Armin on a fenced balcony surrounded by the images.

"How come you need to be here if you have a defense mechanism ready?" He asked, curious about the workers lining every seat available at the foot of the walls, and seeing more come in to position themselves in a spot. There were so many the blonde wondered why Armin's presence seemed required. Didn't one of those bulky commanders from earlier lead? Didn't they have autopilot or something? America thought this would be a common trait among all aliens.

Armin kept his iridescent eyes sweeping the monitors as he answered. "It is merely precautionary. Our trap is still set in place, but because they managed to survive it once, we will simply ensure they do not a second time if we deem them a threat. They are trespassing onto my sector and we must treat this like any other invasion, during which my presence is needed in case I need to send the message that they are messing with the wrong ship," Armin explained, analyzing his people take action. Most of his workers were allowed free-roam, but once a threat surfaced they took no time to initiate their fighting spirit and take command at the many work stations lining the room's curved walls. Armin trained his people well.

America nodded in understanding, still uneasy but observing eagerly nonetheless. This would be his first time present during an official extraterrestrial confrontation. He had to take notes and learn their customs, or risk sending future space travelers to their doom because of lacking knowledge. His tourists already made names for him abroad on Earth, and America really didn't want aliens to think the same of him because of naive astronauts.

Armin pointed a pale, practically white with a hint of blue-violet, index finger towards a specific monitor right above their heads, its size slightly larger than the rest of its brethren. The image onscreen showed footage of a faraway blob America could barely make out as a space ship. Silver and cylinder in shape with a cone front and four pair of wings, America noted; It did not look as intimidating as he'd suspected.

"So that's them?" Next to the large screen, America noticed another smaller one with a grid image of dotted lines moving towards their ship, but while Armin's large vessel was in the middle, the approaching vehicle was at the edge of the screen and heading towards some form of border surrounding Armin's. America assumed that was the trap his friend mentioned earlier.

"Yes, that is our suspected invader."

"Isn't that a bit small to be a threat?"

Armin chuckled. The ship was smaller than most, yes, but hardly innocent. "We are unsure since it is still too far to capture in detail. Some clever criminals hide their opulence using decoy tactics in which they send a 'lost' ship to scout their target. Once their guard is down, the rest swoop in. That is why we are always cautious when taking in strays. Most, like myself, just leave anything caught in our traps to die because the risk is too great."

"Right now they are approaching our trap, but should they somehow pass it we can assume they are of high wealth and a possible threat to us." A shallow judgment, but in their galaxy only few could afford defenses against asteroid field traps. While a good chunk were wealthy rulers like himself, Armin knew many were also thieves and bandits whose wealth was stolen.

"What happens then?" America asked, almost reluctant to know the answer.

"We will see what they do. As I said, this is precautionary. Should they be innocent, there is a high chance they will have to turn back or risk being destroyed. At that point, I decide what to do with the remains. So long as my people are safe I don't care what cargo they hold."

Humming to show his interest, America kept his blue eyes on the image of their unknown opponent. As much as he wanted to argue, he kept silent and instead focused his thoughts on possibly approaching the foreign ship, swooping in like a hero on his _Freebird,_ crew aboard cheering at their triumph,and defeating the adversary. He suddenly felt excited to be facing the possible invader, and welcomed a possible confrontation.

"I want to help," He found himself blurting. America turned to Armin, whose eyes were wide with shock. Before the alien could argue, America spoke. He didn't know where the sudden need came from, but observing just didn't sit right in his natural fighting spirit. He'd tried being a bystander many times, but in the end he found himself at the front lines anyway.

"My crew and I could stand by while you check them out. We could surprise attack if they turn out to be bad news. We can do it, trust me!"

"A-america...you are my guest. I cannot endanger you in such a way. You barely even know of our world. There is a high risk you could be killed in the crossfire."

Although his throat seemed to constrict with the attempt, America blurted his signature argument: "I won't take 'no' for an answer!"

Quiet for moments, America grinning stupidly and Armin dumbfounded, the alien soon recovered and was about to argue when he caught sight of the purple-haired crew member from his earlier trip to the room. The fluorescent alien pointed to a screen, which Armin followed with his eyes. "_They are getting closer,_" Armin heard them say.

"I have no idea what they said, but it had something to do about time, right? They're getting closer? We can help! Majority of my crew was born in my awesome homeland! Where only the strong roam free." America insisted, returning Armin's attention from the screen showing the approaching ship.

Seeing a chance, Armin hastily asked, "And what is your homeland's name?"

America paused before blurting "Earth, of course! So can we?!" nervous but managing to catch himself before blurting out his name. Was it him, or did Armin seem almost keenly prepared to ask that question?

Irritated at the obvious answer (why didn't he try being more specific?) Armin reluctantly backed down, not wanting to rise suspicion if he asked further.

Now conflicted, Armin knitted his white brows and glanced once more to the screen now closing in on the nearing ship. He didn't want America to go. How could he risk his friend in such a way? The man did not look like he would back down easily, unfortunately, and Armin's attention had to be focused on the possible threat heading their way, not America. Perhaps he could just send scouts along? America was prideful, Armin learned early on, but surely he could succumb when reasoned with.

With a soft sigh Armin nodded to his friend, who grinned from the message the movement entailed. "You may go, but I will be sending other scouts to accompany you. You will follow only my orders, understand?"

Feeling no protest burning from the conditions, America nodded once more. "No problem!"

"Alright. Then I suggest you take this time to rest and prepare before heading to the docks. As I said, they are still far away and it will be a good couple of your Earth hours until they are close enough to approach."

"Cool!" America waved and turned to leave, then stopped mid-step and circled around. He'd just recalled something dismissed earlier.

"So what was the trap you set?" If its power is enough to make Armin focused on a survivor, then it must be powerful. Perhaps some day America could obtain one to protect Earth.

Armin, however, visibly stiffened and refused to meet America's eyes. "Ah...we can speak of that later."

America cocked a blonde brow. Not really aiming to now further, he quickly exited the room, eager to tell his crew about their mission. Afterwards he'd need to take a nap and eat. It would be his first real taste of action in a while, and he wanted to be at his best to face an opposing alien spaceship.

* * *

"Everything seems to be going according to plan. The asteroid field is heading towards_ the Nation_."

"Good. You guys are getting pretty far from our signals. I might not be able to contact you once you do meet this alien."

"That's okay China, I think we can take it from here."

"Be careful, alright? You have my brother up there. I want him back safe and sound, along with you or else Mexico will have my hair."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." At least Canada hoped they would be as he shut off the small monitor. It would be their only means of communications, but with how far they were from Earth the signal would only reach their own ship after a certain distance. Even _the Nation_ would be too far if they continued, and China would most likely worry, hoping for their safety and success once their only means of contact became useless.

"We take America and leave," monotone words announced.

Curious eyes turned to Tony. He didn't say more and the nations shared questioning glances. The alien had been quiet since their departure, and Canada became worried he felt sick. Or he wasn't telling them something. Having the being emit queer phrases in the midst of the eerie quiet made him feel as if they were in one of America's cliché horror flicks with the only evidence of horror's absence was the small window allowing them a clear view of the galaxy. Russia had been staring at it for the past thirty minutes in silence, too entrapped in his love for the cosmos. Everyone else allowed him his moment and remained quiet, maybe checking their weaponry and gear to double-check for imperfections or missing items.

It would take a while to reach the required distance from the ship, the cramped space denying them any form of area to move about and pass the time in any other way than cleaning their fingernails. Even that nudged the person on either side of them, reminding everyone of their cramped situation.

Canada regretted bringing the two tallest nations along. His foot ignited in pins and needles but he couldn't even rub it to wake the numb limb.

The silence soon broke and the four nations grunted and screamed as their escape pod shook violently, causing Canada to take a particularly hard hit from Russia's elbow on his arm.

The startled nations calmed after the shaking stopped, all too suddenly. Russia tried to rub the spot he'd hit, looking remorseful. "My apologies, comrade. The shaking was too much."

"I-it's okay. I'm fine, really."

"What was that?" Germany breathed, a few blonde strands of his usually slick hair hanging above his blue eyes.

"A stray. Small, but still packs a punch. We should avoid those," Tony said, stretching a noodle arm towards the only form of control they had over their pod. Normally it was on autopilot, but if shut off the only option to navigate was a wheel opposite Canada on the wall adjacent to the window. The pod had enough power to propel them forward in whatever direction they chose. Tony squeezed through Russia and Canada, taking hold of the wheel and turning it abruptly to the left, making everyone jolt the opposite direction.

Soon the ship leveled and the group let out relieved sighs mixed with pained grunts.

"Warn us next time, would you?" Germany groaned.

"You saw me reaching for it, man. Besides, this sausage fest is squeezed tighter than a Mega-Muncho triple-meat hot dog. You won't be able to move even if you wanted to."

"I did not need to hear that."

* * *

**A/N:** I'm not going to comment on America's inner monologue because while some of it is technically incorrect, it's needed.

_Next_ chapter they meet. Should I kill someone? I'm really tempted to. *evil laugh* I'm kidding. I'll only do it if it's required for plot.

Review if you'd like, but if I contradicted myself anywhere i encourage you to tell me. I'm trying to take notes (of my own story, lol) so I can remember what I've already established, but skimming past every chapter does not really help me catch everything.


	12. Chapter 12- I Found You

**Disclaimer:** Hetalia does not belong to me, yadda yadda yadda.

This chapter has a lot of breaks and cursing, fyi.

* * *

"Left! Right! Forward!"

"I _know_ you ragged English fucker, don't order me! I follow no one's orders but my _brothers_!" The last word accompanied a sharp thrust to the right, barely avoiding another asteroid. The ship immediately set course towards another, but a blast quickly disintegrated the giant rock into pebbles.

"Bad Touch TRI-O! Bad Touch TRI-O!" Roared Prussia. As annoying as he was to England, the man was capable when it came to warfare. He shouldn't be surprised, but the albino had not been an official nation for a while and England had assumed the feeling and strengths of war would fade with time. Obviously, that did not seem to be the case.

Despite the chaos, they were doing pretty well against their earlier threat. Knowing their position and goal, everyone focused sorely on the rocks and what they would be in control of. All France, Spain, and Prussia could see were asteroids waiting to be demolished. Belarus saw nothing but a clear path to steer them towards. Japan and Estonia saw time tables and graphs calculating every turn Belarus made that would properly navigate them out of the asteroid field, and instead head towards the alien spaceship where the others were headed.

After almost two hours of suffering minimal damage, but equally straining effort maneuvering past every target, the nations were exhausted. Sweat poured down their heads, face and chest, drowning them in the stink of their own perspiration. Their uniform clung to their skin from the wetness, and if it were not for their chairs their legs would surely give out. Belarus, the only one having to occasionally stand, could feel her thighs burning from the stress. No matter how much her body hurt, or how much her head pounded after two hours of loud bangs and sounds of metal grating against hard rock from minimal impacts, she stood strong, arms poised and ready at the pedestal to respond at every oncoming asteroid.

Before leaving, her brother gave her the most sincere smile she'd ever seen. He trusted her to keep the other nations alive - and she intended to do just that.

"_Grngh! Fffffuuuuuuuck!_" Unfortunately, moving the directional wheel proved harder and harder as time passed. Her arms ached, her fingers pulsed and joints stuck in their position, prepared to repeat the same action on impulse as they did the past two hours. Belarus' hair would sometimes block her view, and she cursed herself for not tying it up earlier. Dirty, slightly red, bandages clung to her forehead uncomfortably, threatening to fall as well. Just how much farther did they need to go? Sheer determination would not keep her body from collapsing!

England did nothing to ease tension. It seemed he'd reverted back to his pirate days and only added the noise of useless commands to the orchestra of commotion. Japan and Estonia had enough stress blocking out their concentration without the former pirate's voice ramming their eardrums, but with the chaos no one could really tell him to stop. He was their leader for the moment, and did make a useful order now and again. After so long, though, everyone simply wanted him to be quiet. He was just another angry voice along with Prussia adding grating noise to their already exhausted minds. If anything, his British accent accentuated the roughness to his commands, strengthening the grating capability of his voice.

They were making progress, though. The onslaught had been ruthless at first, but as time wore on fewer, if not smaller, asteroids frequented their sights. If they held out, the end would be reached eventually. So long as they survived to allow the others enough time to infiltrate the enemy, their task would be a success. As decoys, the group could not afford to surrender early.

"Belarus, to the left!" England screamed, pointing an erratic finger across the screen.

"Shut up would you?!" Successfully veering off the path of another asteroid, Belarus relaxed for a mere second before another rock headed their way. Thankfully, Antonio managed to hit it directly at its center, obliterating it to harmless pebbles.

"That was mine, man!" Roared an upset Prussia.

Spain shrugged, ever smiling and carefree, although sweating profoundly just like everyone else. "You should have been paying attention, _amigo_."

"My dears, i do not think we should be distracted," France huffed, the strain tiring out the manicured blonde. They may just be pressing buttons, but after two hours of having to focus their full attention on the screen _and_ dealing with constant noisy movement, keeping their bodies from tipping one way during a collision? If this is what video games turned to in the future, the Frenchman might quit his daily jogs and play first-person shooters to keep in shape instead.

"Do your jobs you lazy cunts!" Belarus growled, arms constantly in motion as her dark blue eyes never left the screen.

"We are close!" Called Japan. He turned to his teammates, usual stoic expression morphed into stressed lines and downward eyebrows. His hair shared the same problem as the rest, it's usual neat bob messy and showing looses strands. "Our map indicates we are close to the end!"

Estonia nodded, focused on his on-screen map as he said, "We should be nearing there in half, to one hour! Just pull through you guys and we can make it!"

Relief pooled through each body in the room, but they refused to allow that to hinder their concentration. The woods were only thinning, not ending.

Prussia cackled. "Well all-fucking right! Let's end this bullshit!"

"Agreed! Full speed ahead, laddies!" Screamed England, threatening to fall from his chair the more he leaned forward. Thank goodness there was a desk to keep him upright, although Belarus hoped he would end up banging his head on it and get knocked out like Canada earlier.

_He's too into this._

* * *

America could not hold down his excitement. After resting in heaven's bed (well, pod) and eating as much as he could, he put all effort in assisting his now excited crew preparing for their role of protecting Armin's ship from invaders._ Freebird _had been restocked with food and medical supplies (just enough for a minor fight, as Armin had ensured not to give them enough to leave just yet), along with some extra fuel and rockets. It had been difficult at first to find their type of fuel in a ship powered by Armin's stardust, but they'd been lucky enough to find that the alien leader kept different types of fuels on the ship as backups. He was prepared for the worst and ensured he'd have multiple types of power available should one run out.

After preparations were finished, one of Armin's people led them to the docking blocks, a huge room located at the front end of the vessel with an open door and multiple spaces to old ships of all sizes. There, they would wait, armed and ready inside their ship, for Armin's orders. Although the alien insisted their involvement would go unneeded, America was determined to help and gladly took the standby position, eagerly awaiting his necessity into their defense team.

To his delight, he did not have to wait long for their presence to be required.

Seated at the front with two men at his sides, the remaining crew behind him or in some other part of the ship, America allowed himself some leisure time when a pair of blue-violet eyes and white hair appeared on his 12'' screen, one of the three located in their cock pit. The abrupt light snapped him back to focus, sitting straight and prepared to follow orders.

Huh, usually he gave them.

"What's up bro?"

"I'm afraid you will have to embark with my patrol after all. These foreigners set a decoy and have some small vessel headed our way. I am sending my patrol team to approach them to see if they are dangerous and act accordingly. I want you to follow behind in case they have some other decoy set up."

"Whoa, these aliens must be smart. Don't worry Armin, we got this! The hero won't let you down!"

The blonde's smile was contagious and Armin found himself smiling as well, no matter how worried he was for his friend. "I don't doubt it. Be careful, America." The screen went black, then lit up once more to reveal a map of their destination. Their entire ship beamed power lights and screens, the feeling of a running motor vibrating at their feet. It almost reminded America of his first car and hearing that beautiful engine roar - only this time, they would be rocketing through space rather than cruising on an open road.

With a team cry and pumped arms, America's crew shot out of the docks, past a small barrier comprising of scanners and the occasional security crew. Soon they could see nothing but far away stars, planets, galaxies, the butt of each patrol team's vessel, and an imaginary path leading to their enemy.

* * *

Amidst the stars, ever silent aside from the roar of their chemical flames should anyone get too close, floated a spherical[ escape pod the size of your average car containing four very cramped nations and a fidgeting alien. Although their nerves were none too calm, each body remained still and silent save for short breaths and the shifting of legs seeking escape from the imaginary ants crawling in their skin. As calm as it looked, the peaceful gliding made an abrupt stop and accelerated to a fast jolt, officially ruining the peaceful yet tense atmosphere previously.

Each nation grunted with the abrupt movement, but otherwise remained silent.

"We're almost there," Tony announced. Although everyone wanted to point out sarcastically that, "N_o they were not because you've been saying that the past two hours," _no one felt like hearing the alien's smart mouth when their heads and aching muscles felt like cement from the lack of movement. The time past had caused more knots than boy scouts on a camping trip.

What felt like hours was in reality just that, and the nations were becoming worried they'd steered off-course when no space ship met their sights. It was huge according to Tony's scanners, so why weren't they seeing it?

"M-Maybe we went the wrong way?" Canada whispered, nervous at the possibility that their journey had taken a wrong turn.

"We didn't. My scanners are much better than yours."

"Isn't that just a tablet?" Countered an unamused Germany.

"In your planet it is. In my planet this thing is life." Tony held up the device for all to see, prideful of his technology. Then the ship rocked, causing the alien to drop the tablet and have it crack against the wall. "_FUCK ME!"_

"Can you see what it was?" Germany turned to Sweden, the one with the best view to the window other than Russia, who was probably too cramped to move his head to peer out anymore. The light blonde moved as close as he could to the window, taciturn expression never changing and glasses reflecting various lights outside. A short moment later, the Swede turned back. "I don't see anything."

"It was probably another stupid mother fucking star's shit remains,"grumbled Tony, attempting to put his broken tablet back together with little success.

Following his words, the room illuminated in light before fading off seconds later. Anxious faces looked to Sweden for some form of answer from the window. The Nordic didn't have time to look, for a noise reminding them of static outside froze them in their seats.

"Or not."

"It's another ship," said Sweden, his blue eyes never leaving the window.

"REALLY!?" Grunts of pain and small curses were uttered as each nation attempted to stretch far enough to see the view outside. Tony pushed them all back, ordering for them to silence. They obeyed, the silence engulfing their cabin once more as they strained their ears to hear any sign of life from the unknown ship.

Canada leaned towards Tony and whispered, "Why aren't they doing anything?"

"They're probably trying to get your signal to communicate. Your crap's too outdated and probably can't."

"So what do we do?"

"Well, they're not shooting at us. I see that as a good sign and suggest we wait."

"Can't we just shoot them?" Russia asked, his grin contradicting the comment uttered.

"We can't, Russia! They may know where my brother is." Russia huffed, realizing the Canadian spoke truth. He did not favor their situation, though. They were basically sitting ducks; prey ready to be slaughtered by the alpha. The very thought made his blood boil. He wanted to force their way through without being cautious. After all they'd been through, having the American so close and not being able to reach him frustrated the Russian nation.

After around ten minutes of tense silence, they were rewarded with another sound. This one, however, continued to form words.

_"Attention outsiders: You are trespassing on private sector and are being asked to leave. This is your warning to comply before we open fire."_

Russia scrunched his nose, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "I can't tell what they're saying."

"Ja, it sounded like gibberish to me," Germany agreed, scratching the back of his neck. He could feel himself sweating, the awkward tension of their situation making him nervous. It honestly never occurred to him to bring a translator. How could they all assume they'd be able to understand all aliens just because America's friend could speak to them? Dammit! They should have anticipated this!

"W-we should communicate with them, eh? Tell them we're harmless." Canada did not want their first meeting with a foreign alien to negatively affect them. What if they messed up and end up having Earth destroyed? He didn't want to be responsible for their home's obliteration!

"We can't really do that when this pod has no speaker system. And my tablet is busted so i can't translate their language."

Frustrated, Russia turned his violet eyes on the alien. "Then what are we supposed to do? Sit here and let them kill us for not cooperating because of a language barrier?!"

"Nooooo..."

_"This is your final warning. Please leave or we will open fire."_

"Then what?!"

"We do this!" He jumped and took hold of the wheel again, paying no mind to the wide-eyed nations as the alien took control of the pod. It jolted forward, heading straight for the group of patrol men. Screams echoed in the room the closer they became to the armed enemy. Unprepared for the action, stunned patrol men unable to act, the pod rushed past their vessels easily and headed straight for the mother ship. They had a short moment to recover before following the quickly accelerating pod, ear-deafening sirens warning them of their approach.

"Tony, what the heck?! They're going to kill us!"

"It was either this or get shot back there! I am not dying today!"

"Then floor it! They're getting closer!"

"Don't worry, i've done this before! We just need to -"

A force hit their vessel, destroying one of the small fins underneath it and ending their means of directional control. The pod flipped several times in the direction of the hit, and Sweden peaked out of the window to see green smoke steaming from their ship's walls. Something had hit them, he realized, but what?

The force had been enough to decimate their positions inside the pod. Some legs were in between others, arms above someone's head. Canada found himself upside down, looking straight at Russia and Tony in a very provocative position against the vehicle's walls; whatever had hit them paid no mercy to the defenseless nations.

"There is another ship heading towards us," Sweden announced, eyes still straining to see outside the window - their only view source to the culprit who'd hit them.

"Then floor it, man! We're practically begging them to hit us again if we stand still!" As if to confirm Tony's words, another force hit the pod and sent their positions spiraling again, this time landing Germany on top of a blushing Sweden. To his delight, Canada landed right above the window. He cracked an eye open to see, heaving breaths fogging the edges of the glass as he searched his violet orb over the rims of his glasses across the view. He saw nothing, just black with specs of flickering light, until a small green ray increased in size as it neared from the distance. The curly-blonde barely had enough time to duck as the light made contact, forcibly sending their ship another direction.

The sirens got louder, signaling the nations that whatever hit them was leading them straight to the patrol men from earlier.

Another hit. Canada was quickly becoming frustrated with the pain of movement inside the cramped space._ Who is the hoser who keeps hitting us?!_

* * *

"Got them, boo-ya!" Jean hollered, his crew members clapping in approval. The black-haired male had great aim. He'd managed to hit the tiny vessel twice and forced it back quite a bit.

America grinned at his subordinate. "Nice job, man! At this rate we'll be heading back soon, maybe making a name for good 'ol America!" After he decides to tell Armin, that is.

"Sir, they're trying to escape," a short woman with curly brown hair informed, pointing to one of the small screens showing the tiny sphere gliding away from their position.

"Well we can't have that. Locked and loaded?"_ Man I've always wanted to say that. _"_FIRE!_"

America peeked through a pair of built-in binoculars, eyeing their ammo, some green fire stuff Armin had equipped them with, approach the ship, its contact with the metallic walls causing it to twirl like a hamster wheel.

As funny as the image was, America did feel sympathetic towards their enemy. Upon embarking on their mission, he'd expect a much larger ship. This, however, looked like an escape pod. Knowing he was attacking such a defenseless vessel crippled his heroic beliefs. Armin had said it was a decoy, but it's small form was too pitiful to take as a threat in the blonde's opinion. Couldn't they just take it captive than mess with it like they were now? It wasn't even putting up a fight, yet they attacked it mercilessly.

_I promised to follow orders._

He looked through the eyepiece once more, carefully motioning his aim to hit directly at the vessel's center. He could feel his trigger finger trembling, wanting to turn back and hope the small pod made it out safely. It could be dangerous, though, right? Armin had said it happened before. That he was lucky to have America be a friendly soul. The large mother ship was a decoy, while this pod had been the true mastermind. These weren't innocent aliens. They_ had_ to be ruthless invaders, wanting to infiltrate and rob Armin and his people.

America bent his finger, easing the trigger down far enough to -

"America, sir! We have another ship in sight!"

Stunned out of his focus, America moved his eyes to an image projected on a screen to his left. It was the one from earlier, only closer as he could make out smaller details of the ship's smooth exterior. It seemed to have a design along it's side, but he couldn't make out what. All he understood at that point is that it managed to get past Armin's earlier trap; truly a force to be reckoned with.

"Do we attack it as well?"

"I-I'm not sure... Armin told us to wait for his orders."

As if on cue, the Velrys ruler appeared on the screen once more. "America, we are proceeding with enemy termination. I suggest you get back so my patrol team can engage and destroy the intruder."

"Wait, have you contacted them to see what they want?"

"We tried, but they don't carry a signal. We have to assume the worst, considering they refuse to back down."

"I... I suppose you're right. How far back to we need to get?"

"Around ten miles."

"Alright. We're on it." Blue met black, then turned to the multiple pairs of eyes around the room. "You heard him guys."

Nodding in understanding, his crew disengaged their weapons and prepared to turn their ship around. The mission had been bittersweet, but the bespectacled blonde suppose he'd learned enough of alien formalities to teach a couple of astronauts how not to get killed. America hoped they would be far enough to ignore the obliteration of an entire ship and its crew, at least. The sight would only strengthen his guilt.

He took one more glance at the screen still projecting the image of their enemy ship. Unlike the small pod, this one was big enough to be a fighter, although it looked more like a luxury cruise line who'd gone through hell. There were multiple dents on its skin, one engine looked beaten to heck, another destroyed, and smoke trailed behind its formally-smooth form. Why was it trying so hard?

The closer proximity allowed America to make out the designs surrounding its perimeter. Each rectangular in shape, the colors and pattern varied at each shape. They almost looked like...flags? America leaned forward, intent to make out the designs. Black, Red, and yellow? Yellow and red? Green, white, and red? If he didn't know any better, those were the exact colors for the countries back home.

He leaned further, one of his men inquiring about his queer actions. The ship onscreen moved left, and America caught sight of an all too familiar flag pattern.

A red maple leaf, surrounded by a pool of white that connected with more red.

There is no way those iconic leaves would be in some other planet, much less have an alien choose it as a design for their flag. It was too, too... _Canadian_.

_No way._

The ship continued to turn left, and America caught sight of the flag that called out to him, begging for him to spare the ship it was tagged onto. This flag had many names; "Stars and Stripes", "Old Glory", "The Star Spangled Banner"; and held a special place in this American's heart. It would be over his cold, undead body that he'd allow anyone to degrade it.

Jean, curious about his captain's actions, had leaned in and caught sight of the multiple flags as well. This brought on curious looks from the rest of the crew, who mimicked their actions and leaned there, surrounding the small screen, gaping at the unimaginable image.

"...Sir, we need to do something," Jean muttered, too stunned to look his country's way. Thankfully, his voice succeeded in knocking the man out of America's stupor and he scrambled back into his seat, pressing buttons and bringing a hand to rest at a wheel. His crew followed his example, the act of escaping long forgotten in their minds. They had a new goal; one that meant more than defending an alien they'd known for a short time in comparison to the brethren being held in the 'enemy' ship. Who knows what people were inside the escape pod? They'd tossed that thing around as if it were kick-the-can!

Their blue vessel turned, heading straight for the patrol team surrounding the silver ship rather than back towards safety. A few patrol men turned their way, confused at their actions and tried to warn them away. They ignored the signals, though, and continued on, catching more curious looks from the aliens. Someone must have informed Armin of their actions, because soon the alien's face was on their screen once more.

"What are you doing America?! You have to get a safe distance away before we destroy the enemy!"

"Armin, wait! Don't kill them, please!"

"What? They are invaders!"

"NO! I think they're from my planet!"

"What?" Shock and confusion crossed Armin's features.

America pointed towards the ship on his screen, although he knew Armin couldn't see the motion. "The flag! The giant ship has tons of flags on its side. One of them is of my country! I think they're my people!"

This left Armin speechless, so America scrambled for a microphone. The speaker system was originally to play music, perhaps attract aliens with his American pop, but this would be a much more practical use.

"Did you guys fix this?!" He asked, glancing back at his crew.

"Yes, whenever you're ready."

Not wanting to wait any longer, he pressed the button on the device's side and sighed when the small second of static signaled it worked. Armin watched him curiously through the screen.

"Canadia? Canadia, is that you in there?!"

* * *

For the past thirty minutes, Canada couldn't fathom their situation. They'd just been close to death, whatever attacking them never once backing off. That is until _the Nation _broke through some of those smaller ships and headed straight for them, shooting small bullets towards anyone nearing their escape pod.

If that wasn't a miracle, he didn't know what could be. Regardless, he was eternally grateful. Not only were the rest of his crew safe, but they'd managed to escape the asteroid field and back them up. All they had to do now was regroup, perhaps try and fend off the other aliens and hope they'd make it far enough to reach the mother ship. Then they could save his brother, save America along with his crew and leave. After returning to Earth, they could have a ball game. That would be nice, right? Even if his brother's super strength always left him bruised afterwards, it was still fun.

He'd yell back at the harsh treatment, then America would tease by calling him...

_"Canadia!" _

Canada opened his eyes, free of his daydreaming. "Whoa, that was almost too real to be my imagination..."

"What was?" asked an upside-down Germany.

"Well, this stupid nickname America calls me just to be annoying."

_"Canadia, is that you in there?!"_

Russia, his leg bent and arm at an awkward angle behind him, giggled. "I think we have all lost our sanity. I can almost hear our comrade calling you."

_**"You'd better answer me before they fry you into pieces!" **_

All remained quiet, trying to understand what the impossibility of what they'd just heard. Canada, right across from the window, squinted to see a blue blob in the distance quickly approaching. The blob soon grew wings and sharp edges, forming the shape of the space ship his brother proudly boarded before disappearing into the vacuum of space.

"AMERICA!"

* * *

**A/N:** Everyone knows it's canon Belarus has a potty mouth, right? Alright. (Perhaps i over did it, though.) Also, i'm such a tease. I was going to make them meet here, but then i looked at the word count and felt i needed to cut it off.

If you're wondering why it took hours to escape the field this time, it was because earlier they got hit while the trap was on its way back, rather than planted at the specific location armed and ready. Previously, they would have hit the edge of it, rather than full-blown center path _into_ it. I know i should be explaining this as i go along, but i personally don't think that detail matters in their rescue mission when more pressing matters are at hand.

Everyone has seen the sketch of America's ship, right? Their control room is way smaller than the Nation's, and resembles an aircraft cock pit, only slightly bigger to make room for more than two people.

Bad science, part ten-thousand: Sound can't travel through the vacuum of space. How would those speakers work? I have no idea...but i'm sure the future has a solution! *is shot* I might just re-write this part later so it makes sense, but for now it's not important enough to edit when i have ten hours before school. They found each other - that's all that matters.

This story hit 2k views last week, yay! /imsolame


	13. Chapter 13- Reunion

**Disclaimer: Let's just all assume from now on i don't own anything.**

* * *

"America, I insist you stop your actions."

America turned away from his view of the oncoming spacecraft to glare at his alien friend. "No! Armin, they're my people, I'm positive! You have to call off your patrol!" Those flags were no mistake. It had to be some form of search squad sent by his country - no, his planet.

The alien ruler seemed put-off by the blonde's outbursts and held back a retort. He appeared to be contemplating the idea, raising America's hopes until the pale being looked like he found a huge con in doing as told and was prepared to protest.

In that moment, true to his country's motto, America refused to obey the small voice in the back of his head telling him to comply with the alien. "Armin, please. I'm practically begging here!" Were his tears visible? America hoped so. The infamous puppy-dog face worked on England as a child, so why not on Armin? He would never forgive himself if his friend mistakenly destroyed Earth astronauts when his presence could have prevented it. He had to try everything in his power to steer them away from a disastrous path.

_I'm the hero! It's my job! _

He stretched his eyes further and forced them to glaze with un-shed tears. Pouting his lips and lightly moving his head so a few loose blonde strands could mark his face, America held the pleading look until Armin looked uncomfortable. If his idea didn't work, he'd have to resort to violence - something he was sure no one wanted. America's eyes began to burn from keeping them open for so long, but his efforts proved successful at Armin's next words. "Fine. Prepare to board," he grumbled.

_Yes! "_Thank you Armin!" He grinned. "I promise they're cool."

"I am sure they are. We will maneuver them to the ship. I advise you to take a small lead while we deal with them."

"Right-o." Still grinning, America arched his neck to peer behind him at his crew. There was a mix between confusion and relief, but just like many times on their space mission they understood each other without needing to express it in spoken words. After pulling, pushing, and turning the appropriate levers, buttons, and wheels, America's _Freebird_ did a one-eighty, now heading in the opposite direction as before.

"Mr. America, was that really a spacecraft from Earth?" Jean asked, his merry eyes showing hints of belt-up elation. American could relate - the absence of familiar contact had taken its toll. By now, all of the Earth-born humans and nation were starved of the amity already present with a DNA bond. Earth soil practically called to them like drugs to a withdrawal patient. Without it, they felt detached from themselves, almost as if they were missing a critical piece of their being.

"Definitely. I saw a lot of the country's flags on it, including yours truly!" He grinned once more, his smile never failing to bring enthusiasm into anyone present.

"N-no way. So they came to get us, for real?"

"Looks like it, but we so got the jump on them and saved them instead. Ready to brag?"

"Always, Mr. America."

* * *

Something stirred within his body. Something he didn't like, nor enjoyed feeling after basking in the flow of peace for so long. _Is this anger?_

Although Armin had felt the same feeling many times in his youth while battling invaders, he never felt it quite like this. This feeling was a mix of hate and...sadness? Sadness that something precious could possibly be taken away. He recalled America's equivalent...jealousy, was it? Was he jealous, envious, _spiteful_?_ Such a dirty word_, he mused. It held an inner turmoil no one should allow to spread within themselves, lest they succumb to evil temptations. Armin had read enough of the romance novels and comics to understand what jealousy did to people. His own citizens were not exempt from it, leaving Armin to deal with small instances of violence from enraged, suspicious partners and batty children.

But unlike past cases, the feeling crawling its way through his system was his own, rather than his people's. He could feel himself squirm with every ping, every sting of dislike towards the aliens, America's people - if what America said turned out to be true. Even if they were, all Armin could see them as were invaders; there to ransack and steal everything precious to him, just like everyone else. Pirates, lowlifes, insects of the universe.

He sat frozen on his large chair, a throne if someone dared call it, deadpanned while he watched his troops grab the foreigner's attention, somehow getting it through to them that they meant no harm.

_Yet._

_"Captain?"_

Startled out of his monstrous thoughts, Armin turned his gaze on a member of his crew, the frail looking thing staring at him with the most worried scrunch of their baby blue nose. He didn't particularly feel anything when he answered, _"Yes?"_

Although the child-like alien wished to express their concern, they remained professional. _"The enemy is following as instructed. We will be heading back to the mother ship."_

The mother ship? Oh, yes, of course. "Good, good..." Saying nothing else, the small subordinate left Armin after receiving his approval.

The alien couldn't take his eyes off their soon-to-be guests' craft. It was fairly large. Even if it was dull looking, it probably contained more humans than America and his crew combined. That many humans to 'rescue' the man lost for almost a year in Earth time. The man who now held a special place in Armin's life.

His previous thoughts came back, delicious on the edge of his mind if he considered the positives in acting on them. Have America all to himself like a little prisoner -

What was he thinking? This was exactly what he warned his citizens about. Negative feelings cause change, and he wouldn't allow a foreigner to instill them because of a small infatuation. Armin was a leader of peace and trust, and would never defile his friendship with the cheery Earthling. After all, he had the treaty with America (not signed yet but will be) and the man's friendship. Armin should be glad his forgettable people finally came. The alien could almost feel his blonde friend's glee when they'd spoken. The sheer enthusiasm of being connected to your homeland's people once more. Armin understood the feeling, and thus stepped back into his normal train of thought knowing America would still be on his ship when they returned, albeit with more guests and an even stronger desire to leave.

He could face this. He would return and have a talk, perhaps learn more from these new humans (inquire on America's name perhaps?), say his goodbyes, then make good use of their alliance by visiting his dear new friend. How would Earth look like from up close? Oh, he couldn't wait to find out.

Armin took another moment to observe the blob-like ship now following their group. The stray escape pod seemed to be following as well.

The sight of it fueled the seed of distrust, and all he could think about was America's smiling grin leaving in that very blue ship of his, right behind these new-goers.

The screen's image twitched, matching Armin's emotions perfectly.

* * *

Canada couldn't believe where the situation had escalated, then settled in an almost phenomenal way.

He'd been knocked back and forth in their escape pod, caught before they could infiltrate the enemy and in a path towards death when all of a sudden _the Nation_ came into their view, its image reminding the maple-loving nation of countless similar Hollywood moments where a savior would appear and miraculously turn the entire battle around.

Except that didn't happen.

Almost immediately_ the Nation_ was flanked by more alien ships, and Canada worried its already battered frame would be reduced to a scrap heap incapable of harboring any living being, much less return them home. He'd stretched his neck and back to glance out the window, but could only catch small glimpses of the swarm approaching their only means of success for their mission.

The only thoughts in his head; a mantra of "We've failed. It's over. I'm sorry."; repeated as an inner attempt to calm himself, but when no end came, Canada had begun to believe he'd died long ago and now was forced to relive his final moment. That he'd imagined his brother's voice right before being blasted to pieces - but then he saw it. He saw his brother's ship, _Freebird_ in her full glory, unharmed and glowing as if she'd barely stepped out of her birthplace with a new coat of paint.

_How?_

_**"Canadia! Answer me, dammit!" **_

"America?!" He couldn't scramble for a better look with the cramped space, but by now even the other nations were aware that they were not delirious, and in fact hearing America calling out to them - well, Canada anyway.

"It's really him...he's alive!" Russia grinned, genuinely grinned, at the discovery. He could faintly see through the window, America's blue ship in the distance staring at them.

"I fucking knew it," Tony's muffle voice cheered, his raised arm the only body part visible from under Germany's broad form.

"Are we sure it's him and not some trick? Why would America be on the enemy's side?"

Germany brought up a good point, but it was the missing nation's next message that made the blood drain from everyone's face:_**"They think you're a threat! You have to surrender or they'll blow you up!"**_

Canada tried to edge himself closer to the window, hopefully to let America know they were inside by seeing his face, but the angle he was in caused a sharp pain to rise up his back and he winced, settling back down. "W-we have to let him know it's us. Get him to stop them somehow."

"How?"

"I- I don't know... But we have to find a way or they'll think we're just defying them on purpose."

"Can we still contact the others?" Russia asked Sweden, currently the one closest to the small screen and having the misfortune of having the large nation sitting on him. He grunted, face as frightening as ever, and pressed the power button on the bottom of the screen. To everyone's relief, it lit up into a somewhat cracked image of England's blue-uniform covered torso, his yelling grating throughout the small pod.

Tony groaned from under Germany. "Make that limey shut up!"

"Oi, who said that?!" England's face finally appeared. His giant brows rose in confusion at the image of them twisted around the pod. "What's going on?"

Grunting at the effort, Canada rose slightly to glance at the screen. "England! Listen, America is nearby!"

"What?"

"It's true!"

"That...that can't be. We're surrounded by the enemy, does that mean he's inside one of their ships?"

"No. I saw his ship. He is nearby and warning us to comply with the aliens before they blow us up," Russia explained.

"What? He's daft!"

Canada could understand his reluctance, but when they were this close he didn't want to risk loosing sight of his brother again. With any luck, America's presence meant he'd been accepted by the aliens and could properly convince them not to harm anyone. "England, we don't have a choice! We found him and I am not letting him go!"

"But this could be a trap!"

Was the Englishman really fighting him on this? America did inherit some of his traits, but Canada didn't want to deal with the resistance any longer. "England, I am the leader and you will do as I say!"

Surprisingly, the shaggy-blonde went silent, taking a moment to overcome his surprise before nodding and straightening up, his torso taking up the view on the screen once more.

"Nice job America's twin," Tony muffled, his gray limb forming a thumbs up. Although the alien didn't sit well with Canada for the most part, he did feel some pride in having the hostile thing compliment him.

Germany nodded, as did Russia and Sweden to show their agreement. He smiled, glad for their approval and could feel his chest swell with pride. Not even America's lingering presence could take this moment away from him. The nations had recognized _his_ efforts; learned what _Canadians_ could do. Even his polar bear, had he been able to come, would probably know his name now - the thought filled Canada with a sense of satisfaction and happiness.

Suddenly their pod thrust forward as a large _thump _was heard, each nation harshly jolting forward once before settling back to their previous positions (much to Tony's dismay). But instead of being forced forward and twirling wildly like before, the pod slowly advancing as a force behind them pushed their pod in the direction of the other ships. Retreating ships.

"What's going on now?"

"I think the stupid limey got it through to them that we surrendered. We're probably being guided to their mother ship now."

"That can be both a good, and bad turn of events," Germany grumbled.

"I don't care," confessed the Canadian. "So long as we see America we should consider it the correct way."

* * *

The journey seemed endless, but the nations finally got a glimpse of the ship they'd been tracking down for for what seemed like eons.

All they could really think once they caught a glimpse was:_ It's HUGE._

Probably around the size of a moon, the sleek craft reminded the nations of a luxury cruise liner. Whoever this Velrys leader was obviously had some wealth to spare, each pair of eyes unable look away from the sight. The ship, already impressive in its own right, held a glow not visible from the image they'd previously seen of it on their monitor. It was as if the craft was alive, welcoming others to its presence with a single glance.

Dangerous indeed.

Each nation could feel the anxiety now, doing nothing but silently waiting for their captors to dock their pod along-side_ the Nation, _interrogate them, maybe even change their minds and kill them before getting the chance to reunite with America. The reality of his decision dawned on Canada, who prayed that America really had called them and it wasn't some elaborate trap like the others suggested.

After accepting their fate, the group of four (plus alien) settled into a comfortable, albeit disquiet, silence. The adrenaline finally wearing off, their knotted muscles and bruised skin only brought them discomfort. Tony had complained for a good ten minutes only to submit to the hush of the pod after accepting that everyone was throbbing from aches, on edge after the intense experience from earlier. They had no space to fix the problem and resolved to wait until they could freely move their legs to face their position.

The wait eventually ended, no one really sure after how long since nobody had a watch on their person. Their pod stopped, shifting the nations inside and causing small groans of pain from chapped lips. The meal they'd had before leaving had long ago ended its route through their system; minimal remaining trickles of adrenaline the only thing really keeping them awake.

The temperature warmed, adding discomfort to the confined nations because now they could sweat from all the body heat. Russia's scarf began to dampen on his pale skin. Sometimes even he wondered why he decided to wear the thing everywhere. It made more sense to leave it on Earth where it would be safe from damage. Ah, but habits are hard to kill.

The pod released a gaseous noise and the door opened unexpectedly, each nation on board the small pod falling out unceremoniously atop each other.

_"Our captain has decided you are not a threat for now, but should that change we will not hesitate to destroy you. We will take him to you now."_

From his position on the floor, Canada raised his eyes to met a pair of cerulean irises. The blonde had never seen someone so pale...look good. For whatever reason, the nearly white skin worked on this person - no, alien. Prussia was albino, but on Earth it was considered an oddity, especially with the red eyes. But this alien's entire image fit, down to the long, braided indigo hair and weird glow their skin held. An impassive expression bored into violet, Canada too entranced by the foreign being's almost sparkling blue eyes and pointy ears to notice the gun it also held until the alien repeated his garbled speech and shook the weapon in front of Canada's face, almost in a warning should he not cooperate. "W-what?"

The alien spared a glance behind him, meeting the eyes of another armed alien, then turned back to Canada. "We apologize. You will be taken to our captain. Please follow us."

Canada's eyes widened hearing English leave those pale lips. He quickly stood and peeped at his group, similar shocked expressions gracing their faces. Tony, however, looked almost bored and quickly followed the now retreating group of aliens.

He regarded the frozen quartet, "Just follow them. They don't mean us any harm right now," then hurried to catch up.

Accepting the situation for now, the group did as told and trailed the mysterious beings. Sets of different colored eyes trailed along the sleek walls, the beautiful paintings adorning them, and glamorous design of the ship's interior. If they hadn't just seen the stars and faraway galaxies minutes before through the small window of their pod, no one would have suspected they were in the deepest depths of outer space. The Velrys mother ship provided the right calming, imaginative atmosphere to make anyone forget about the surroundings outside of the large white walls.

Aside from their shuffling, the halls were relatively quiet, no other alien present as far as Canada could see. Soon, though, a far-off echo of running could be heard, increasing until the sound was close enough to catch words being spoken in addition to running footsteps.

"- saw them go this way! Armin won't mind if we - Canada?" America halted his hasted steps, eyes widening drastically as he caught sight of the curly blonde right down the hall, being escorted by some of Armin's guards by the looks of it. The name had escaped his lips, but America didn't dare say more, his thoughts jumbled haphazardly as they tried to rationalize the image before him. He had gone to look for the crew they'd saved, but instead found his quiet brother surrounded by aliens. America couldn't believe it, and as he trailed his blues over the meeker sibling, who looked unharmed for the most part, his thoughts never ceased in their running wheel inside his head. Just - how was this possible?

Canada was numb. His eyes matched his brother's; although violet, they were similarly wide to the point it hurt. He blinked to both calm the heat in them and to clear the obvious mirage, but no matter how many times his lids repeated the action America remained in their view. The blonde didn't dare move, fearing that any small action, breathing even, would trigger the end to the miraculous sight.

Both brothers were unaware of the silent tension they'd caused for everyone spectating their reunion, waiting for either blonde to act.

After an eternity, America finally found his voice and feeling in his legs. He slowly stepped forward, voice shaking as he said, "C-Canada? Bro, is that really you?"

The question snapped the stunned nation out of his stupor. "America," he breathed, bolting forward and launching himself at his presumably dead brother to wrap his arms around the blonde and inevitably landing them on the floor from the force of the hug, America letting out a soft "_oomph!_" at the impact. The guards nearby tensed, but neither blonde paid any mind, too lost in the moment of actually touching each other's form - something they hadn't done for a very long time. Months ago, Canada almost believed he'd never be granted the chance.

The tears fell before either brother noticed the urge to hold them back. Canada had felt them coming on the escape pod, already anticipating he'd cry, but America had never even considered seeing his brother and the emotions spilling out of him were too much, too sudden, to resist like he normally would.

"You're alive, you're alive, you're alive! I knew it... I _knew_ it," the shyer of the twins murmured into the other's chest, America's blue uniform growing dark spots from the wetness of Canada's tears.

"Wha - o-of course I'm alive! I just...I can't believe you're here. How the hell? Did Tony send you? Is he here too?" America raised his gaze to peer above Canada's head in search of the small being.

On cue, the gray alien scrambled from the group of nations and other aliens to run towards his human friend. "Americaaa!"

"Tony!" America grinned and welcomed the tackle with open arms, hugging both individuals to his person until Canada complained of breaking his back. He apologized sheepishly and tried to control his overflowing emotions, embarrassed that he was crying in front of Armin's people and his crew. _Wait, there are more people here... No way._

America sat on the floor, tears flowing with two loved ones in his arms, unable to make sense of the other nations observing their moment. Each nation couldn't hold back the smile that formed after witnessing the touching reunion. They were almost tempted to join in the group embrace.

"Russia, Sweden, and Germany? How many more of you are there?" He glanced at his brother, who was desperately trying to clear the water from his eyes and swallow the lump in his throat to speak. The happy blonde only smiled at his brother. "More than you'd believe."

"Why?"

Canada wiped more loose tears before answering. "We came to rescue you."

"That is good news, yes?"

The alien guards moved from the nation's sides to stand behind their leader. Armin had appeared just in time to see the sniveling blondes and gray alien on the ground, speaking of a rescue for their missing friend. Although the confirmation of their objective irked him, he remained stoic and authoritative. To him, these new humans were the same as diplomats; threats to his image that only received the most professional act from the stardust-born extraterrestrial.

All eyes were on the newcomer. America waved to him, oblivious to the rise in tension.

Canada raised a brow at his brother and whispered, "Who's he?"

"Oh right!" Suddenly realizing their position, America moved to stand, bringing both bodies clinging to him upright. The tears were gone, but the sudden wave of happiness wasn't. With a grin, America turned to the nations, gesturing with a loose hand to Armin. "You guys, this is Armin. He's the leader of a planet called Velrys. He's been sheltering my crew and I for a while now."

Armin didn't add anything, unwilling to give the...trespassers, his kindness. As childish as he was being, three of the newest guests looked intimating enough for him to warrant keeping his guard up - especially around the tall yellow-haired one. The human was practically glaring at him through those rectangular spectacles.

America pushed both Canada and Tony forward, eager to show off his friends. "Armin, this is Canada, my brother, and Tony, my best bud."

Armin felt his eye twitch at the last line. Seeing an almost duplicate of his human friend excited him, though. This 'Canada' was like having a cuter version of his America. Those violet eyes were very eccentric as well, and contrasted well with the human's round, paler features. The alien smiled to keep up appearances. "It is nice to meet you. I believe we have some formalities to take care of, so if you would please follow me?"

America nodded enthusiastically. "Totally. I want to know how you guys got here too! You have to tell me all about it."

As America rambled, the nations and Tony scrutinized their enemy. Armin was smiling, but it was cold. Russia understood that type of expression well, having used it many times in the past. This alien hid secrets. America was obviously oblivious to it, but majority of them had lived long enough to recognize the undertones of false facial expressions. Underneath the beautiful, almost glowing, features the alien possessed thrived the experience to plan the perfect crime.

Armin ignored the glaring eyes, too focused on their meeting ahead. They didn't trust him, he understood that. But they were here to take something from him, so why would it be a surprise that he might fight back?

* * *

**A/N: **AnimeFest was really fun and might have distracted me for a bit... And then i hit a small bit of writer's block.

Apologies for that, and all the breaks in this chapter. I didn't want to drag their meeting on for longer by splitting it between chapters. I figured thirteen chapters is more than long enough to get all the supposed drama going. I was also having a rough time deciding how to end this chapter, so if it seems a little rushed i assure you - i'm aware.

We're getting close to that mild sexual situation mentioned in the synopsis. Oh, gosh...

I need to go do my Russian homework now. до свидания!


	14. Chapter 14 - China

China paced erratically, his brows knitted and mouth pinched in a most unattractive sneer. His hair, disheveled from hours of gripping it out of its hair band, shined with grease after skipping a must-needed shower. The wrinkles in his clothes and darkening bags under his eyes did nothing to mask the obvious mistreatment the Asian man took on his own body – but no matter how many times his assistants, brothers, friends, and other fellow nations insisted he sleep, eat, shower, and (heaven forbid) _relax,_ his automatic response would repeat, startle a few, and successfully produce the desire to be alone. Alone to check, once again, if _The Nation_'s communications were accessible.

Each time for the past thirteen hours he would check, double check,_ triple_ check - only to be met with disappointment when the white-on-black screen projected an empty list of available signals. The ivory-haired nation wouldn't be worried if the signal had merely gone out of range like he expected it to, no, that was to be expected. He'd warned his fellow nations it would happen. But for the signal to complete disintegrate? That alerted China something had gone wrong, because somehow the electromagnetic waves they relied desperately to communicate had been completely destroyed.

_Just like America's vessel before he disappeared._

China's chest tightened at the thought. The very idea that he'd led that many nations, powerful ones at that, to their doom gripped his mind with worry and shame. He should have sent a back-up team, or perhaps not listened to that blasted alien - argued to keep the humans on the ship so they could act as decoys. After all, when it came down to it the life of a human weighted not even a quarter compared to a nation's; humans were expendable. He cared for his citizens just like everyone else, but age taught him to utilize his resources whenever possible rather than risk everything on a single, replaceable life. While there were billions of humans on Earth, only well over two hundred nations existed if he excluded the unofficial provinces and micronations. That ratio alone should have convinced him to fight harder, but instead he'd been swayed by his team's confidence. He knew all too well how being cocky led to disaster.

"China?"

The man in question stopped his mindless pacing. His bloodshot eyes searched for the intruder who dare barge in while in his zone, but instead of the usual pull-back of his lips, his brows knitted in confusion when they landed on the Italy brothers. Aside from the one time he'd allowed them to monitor the screens, right before all the chaos began, they'd been out of the way, only contributing in bonds and donations to the project from their land. No matter how bored they claimed to be, neither agreed to leave. North Italy had Germany and Japan to worry about, while South Italy had Spain. Both brothers wanted to be near the only means of communication to the traveling team. Although many other nations followed their example and would have lunch or offer to cover shifts, the only ones to remain the same amount of time as China or the other sleepless employees were the Italies. Even if all they did was lounge around and bother some of the scientists, China was secretly grateful they cared. The pasta they often cooked for everyone also might have convinced him to not kick them out.

After the call about America's kidnapper, China had relocated to the ESA headquarters in France for convenience where they'd built one of many control centers, leaving his siblings in charge of the one back home. It took only two weeks for him to miss traditional Chinese cooking. He'd craved dumplings, chow mein, noodles; anything NOT European. Had it not been for the Italies, China might have been willing to eat American Chinese Food.

China could hear them argue in whispers, but they did not address him further. He sighed and approached the two quarreling twins. "What are you doing here? You know this room is off limits unless it's lunch time or Mexico is here," he said sternly, cringing at the memory of Mexico's tantrum . Her last visit had been far from a pleasant one. China didn't think he could take another scolding from the sassy Latino woman.

Startled, the brothers silenced their bickering. Veneciano spoke first, "Well, we heard you weren't eating and wanted to see if you were alright."

Romano scoffed, crossing his arms in obvious annoyance. "I didn't give a shit, but my stupid brother insisted we check on you."

"That's not true, Romano! We have to tell him -"

"Shut up dumb ass!" Romano hissed, his harsh tone involuntarily catching China's interest.

"What do you need to tell me?" He asked.

Romano glared at his younger sibling, urging him to remain quiet about the subject. In response Veneciano flinched and stood back to escape his bother's fiery glare. He addressed China with caution. "W-well...there is something going on in America. We're not telling you what until you leave this room and eat something!"

When the brothers said no more and simply stared at him expectantly, China could feel his anger rise. If it was important, why risk waiting?! The others could be calling right now and he'd be distracted!

"I don't have time for this! Why can't you tell me now?!" He yelled, his entire face now matching the shade of red of his eyes.

Romano growled, "Mexico told us not to tell you unless you ate, bastard! Don't fucking yell at us!" The angry Italian rushed to the door with a a protesting Veneciano at his heels. Before disappearing through the gap, he turned to glare once more at the withered Chinese man. "You're useless if killing yourself is all that's left of you. Either you come with us or drag everyone down. Your choice."

The echo of a slamming door never hurt so much to China. Veneciano had looked reluctant, but followed his brother anyway, leaving the tired Asian to his solemnity. Were it not for the pitying look he'd recieved from the boy, China might have retaliated. Others always pitied Italy, never the other way around - not to him at least. Had the stress affected him so much?

China spared a glance behind him to take in the empty surroundings. At first, being inside the bare room full of marine-colored tables, walls, and mismatched metallic machinery all staring at a large screen had given him a sense of power. Now, it only ate at his soul with loneliness. With a slump of his shoulders, China made his way to the door, flinching at the sudden light from outside and stepping out, the loud slam of the door somehow releasing some of the pain pressing down on his aging shoulders.

* * *

"Alright, I ate. What is it that you have to tell me about America? Did something bad happen, like his economy stagnating downward or something?" China grumbled, aggressively chewing the noodles still in his mouth before swallowing. The Italians sitting in front of him in their building's cafeteria sighed. Romano rolled his eyes before speaking.

"No, his country is fine. Better than ever, the lucky bastard. It's his people that are acting fucking weird," he said, causing China to cock a thin black brow. "How so?"

"They found a plant. A weird plant. Some really glittery flower on the outskirts of Washington D.C. in the middle of nowhere."

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"I-it was what happened after it was found, China," Veneciano uttered in an almost ominous whisper. Usually the bubbly of the two, Veneciano's uncharacteristic tone unnerved China. He involuntarily leaned forward in his chair. "The man who found it plucked it from the ground and it immediately died. After that, he went hysterical, claiming he had defiled Earth - it was crazy! By the time American policemen got there to investigate, there was a whole meadow of them! But upon closer investigation they noticed most of them grew spontaneously and died right after. Those that lived to bloom died after being plucked or touched by human fingers."

"Mexico sent some of our scientists to see if there was a connection to our mission, or if the flowers were a sign about America's current condition," Romano continued, "They were able to successfully get a couple of the flowers to the labs without destroying them. According to them, the material they are made of is almost completely foreign to Earth soil. It has particles that can be found in our dirt, but it's almost like it's too pure to be able to live for very long on Earth. They don't know why they are growing, but their presence seems to have affected America's people."

"This is the really scary part!" Screeched a flailing Veneciano. "Over the past two days they've started to grow all over America in tiny clumps. In all of the towns who've come to contact or are near some, the people have begun to worship them as if they're gods! Well, maybe that's exaggerating a little...b-but it's like America's people have turned into environmentalists or something! Some of them have renounced their religion in favor of taking care of the flowers, and others...well..."

"Others have begun making flags of a 'new' America," Romano finished, his usual scowl morphed to one of deep disgust.

This caught China's interest. "New flags? That can't mean they're rebelling, can it?" With how much the country had improved, both in morality and economic standing, the idea that some of the citizens were unhappy and willing to revolt surprised the old nation.

Romano shook his head. "We don't know. None of them seem like they hate their country. If anything, they've become more patriotic. It's just...like they've found a new thing to call God. When asked, those involved said they don't know why or how they got the idea, but to them it feels right. That they woke up one day and the world made sense."

"Aiya...," China thought of all the possibilities this new discovery held. The flower was obviously extraterrestrial, but why was it growing on Earth soil? "Whatever alien has America in his possession could be torturing him...," he muttered to no one in particular, although his words were not missed by the Italians.

"We can't assume that," Veneciano said. "I mean, his country is fine, it's just his people that are changing. Mexico confirmed the flower as alien-matter and she said that wherever America is, something is happening to change his system and that that's why these alien flowers are growing. Kinda like that time I ate the stuff in glow sticks and my body glowed for a week."

"Stupid brother... I got a lot of crap for that. We had to come up with a whole story to explain the sudden rise in luminous insects."

"I said I was sorry!"

Finding the rest of the conversation unimportant, China blacked out the siblings' argument to roll his mind around this new information. The flowers were signs that America had injected something into his nation body- willing or not, he did not know, but whatever it was affected his people. In all his years alive, he'd never heard of flowers springing up because of foreign substances. Usually, there was an increase of plants, animals, and humans. To grow a complete new organism based on unique substances not already found on their land was a completely new concept China couldn't completely wrap his mind around. "What could he be injecting to his body?" He muttered to himself, although at hearing his words the Italian brothers ceased their bickering.

"Mexico says that since there isn't any damage to his country, like if America was being tortured because obviously he'd fight back and cause a mess, that there is a possibility America's body is adapting to his new environment," Veneciano explained warily. The idea had made sense when Mexico explained it to them, but he worried for America and the possibility that he'd cripple like the flowers because his body would be unfamiliar with the environment after spending so long outside of it. Not only would their rescue team have to be extremely cautious when re-entering their atmosphere, but America would have to be quarantined until they were sure his body wouldn't crumble. Being a nation unable to see or be near his people would be devastating, and it frightened Veneciano to his core.

China shook his head. "But that is impossible. Evolution takes hundreds of years. America can't just change in a matter of months."

Romano could agree, but even he had to accept that the world did not revolve around Earth. Mexico had been clear to explain why they needed to keep an open mind when so much was unknown to them. They were in the early stages of this possible catastrophe, and no possibility could be excluded. He twirled his right index finger on the table cloth, his green eyes inspecting the designs to distract him from their nerve-racking conversation, if only for a moment. "You never know, China. We don't know what goes on outside of Earth. Whatever the fuck is going on up there could have different rules; different science. For all we know our balls fall off and we can grow wings."

Veneciano blanched and scrunched his face in disgust. "Romano, that's gross. I don't want to have my balls fall off!"

"It was just an example, idiot. We won't really have our balls fall off!"

"But Mexico said to keep an open mind so that means it's possible!"

"Well we're here, not up in space so we have nothing to worry about so shut up!"

_"Yìdàlì!"_

Both brothers turned to China, who was eerily calm for such a harsh outburst. "We need to do something before this gets out of hand. Have you talked with the ones responsible for repairing the signals?"

Veneciano nodded solemnly. "Yeah, but they said they can't do anything. We're not the ones who are broken. _The Nation_ is the one damaged and until they fix whatever the problem is, we can't contact them."

China cursed under his breath. He'd suspected as such, but didn't want to admit defeat. They were sitting ducks with no mother to follow and a sickly chick lost to the wilderness. Should he send supplies and back up anyway? Without contact, he didn't know what the others needed; could only guess that water, food, and engine fuel would be of use. By doing that, he risked sending distractions that could jeopardize the mission. What if they were negotiating and an armed squadron threatened the enemy enough to retaliate? Even if the assistance was needed, China would be sending the volunteers through a guessing game with only the last coordinates recorded before _the Nation_ lost contact as a map; a very rugged map with no guarantee of meeting the enemy or the other ship. China would have to risk valuable resources hoping they would land where they needed to. He understood how risks could turn the game around, but even this board was too tainted with black lines and the hands of death to consider taking the valuable step forward.

China needed another option; a critical piece to increase their chances of success. But what?

He would never fathom that piece coming in the form of two pasta-loving Italians.

"China, we have a proposal." Romano's scowl was gone. For the first time since China had known the dark-brunette, he showed the sophistication of a nation who'd lived through almost, if not all, of Europe's history. The signature downturn of his brows were now straight, his eyes holding the Asian man's undivided attention.

"What proposal?" He asked, cautious about the Italian's intentions.

Romano shared a knowing look with his brother, who nodded, then turned his attention back to China. "Some of the other nations have been talking, and we've decided none of us want to sit here and wait. All of us have agreed to contribute to another space ship project."

"A-another space ship?!"

"Yes!" Italy exclaimed, his bubbly demeanor back ten-fold. "We want to go up there and help any way we can. None of us want to just sit and do nothing while our friends are out there risking their lives."

"Italy, you do realize it's not just your lives you'd be risking. Millions of people will be at risk. We'd be risking all of Earth by allowing so many nations to go!"

"But-"

Veneciano yelped as a thick stack of papers and books slammed onto the table. He, along with Romano and China, turned to the tall new addition to their little meeting. Even with the intimating height, Denmark possessed no threat with the goofy grin currently on his face and wacky, spiked hairdo he always styled his blonde locks into. An irritated Iceland and blank-faced Norway stood on either side of him, Finland flanking at the rear waving nervously to China with an apologetic smile on his pale features.

Denmark ignored the irritated look from both China and Romano and stood tall with both hands on his hips. "Good news, guys. We have the approval!"

China frowned. "Approval for what?"

"For the new space ship, of course!" Denmark's grin widened. He flipped through the various papers and picked out specific ones, which he then gave to China. The raven-haired nation took them reluctantly. "Mexico cleared us and, with the help of some other countries, production is now underway. Lithuania should be sending you the details soon."

"All of you were planning this without telling me?" China glared at the Italians. They were basically his personal lackeys. Weren't lackeys suppose to tell their master everything?

"Don't you make us seem like the bad guys, bastard," Romano growled, his signature scowl returning full force. "You were the one moping around in that room for days without a shower - which by the way you should take because you fucking stink."

China looked ready to start a war, but Finland stepped from behind the other Nordics before he could even make a rebuttal. "Um, China...we were just worried about you. You and Mexico have been working hard. The rest of us don't want to only useful as a means of funding. We know there are risks, but...well, can you honestly say you would prefer to wait for things to happen? I certainly don't."

Of course not! No one would, but to China, who was put in charge of half their operation under Mexico, approving reckless endeavors could destroy everything they've spent centuries building. All of their history could be obliterated by a single order. What right did Mexico have approving such a dangerous request when she was too young to care about ancient times or the battles fought to create the many civilizations that would form their countries today? She was just as bad as America -

_"Your sister is very...spirited."_

_"Mexico? Oh yeah, she can get really feisty. Don't get on her bad side or she'll dump hot sauce in your ice cream, haha! ...I learned that the hard way."_

_"That is very rude! Honestly, you young nations don't know the first thing about decency."_

_"I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout man. I'm a super power."_

_"The reality of which shocks me every day."_

_"China, I know you're this ancient man who has lived through it all, but just because we're young doesn't mean we don't know the same as you do. Everyone seems to forget there was someone before us, before any of you settled, who ruled the people already there and taught us things."_

_"There was?"_

_"Yup, and Mexico was really close to a lot of them. She may be violent sometimes, and I'm honestly still mad about the Alamo, but I'd trust her with my life any day. She knows her stuff."_

The memory of his short conversation with the cheery blonde came and went, leaving a sense of finality to the anxiety bubbling in the metaphorical cauldron in his mind. America would trust the long-haired demon-ess with his life - would it hurt if he did as well? She held just as much responsibility as he did on this operation and would most certainly not risk anything she did not deem worth the effort. In a way, their people were similar. They labored through thick and thin, all for the chance at a good life, regardless of what it took or what people thought of them for it. China felt like a fool for defiling her credibility as nation on mere years alone. For now, the two were partners, and partners must work together for their mission to succeed.

With new-found determination, China lifted himself off his chair, the skid noise alerting everyone around of his movement. His amber orbs focused solely on the nations before him, mainly Finland. He would have to thank the Nordic later for unintentionally knocking sense into him. "Alright. How much money do you still need and when do you need it?" He could just add the cost to America's nonexistent debt.

Denmark's grin returned, joining a chorus of upturned lips from every nation - even Romano and the two silent Nordics. "Nothing. With all the contributions and generous donation from participating nations, all we need are some workers, a building to work, and a crew."

China looked at the group in shock. "The Nation took billions of dollars to make. It must have taken a lot of nations to round up that much money. I'm impressed."

Romano shrugged. "One nation was particularly generous, but they wanted to remain anonymous."

Tired from all the excitement, China softly chuckled. "Now you've made me curious."

"Well, too bad. You are heading to shower and a bed before we let you in on anything."

In a matter of minutes the tired nation was hoisted up by the Italian and Denmark. His protests falling on deaf ears, he was dragged out of the cafeteria and to his bedroom, where they practically guarded his door to ensure he remained inside. To anyone nearby the treatment was ridiculous, but even after the embarrassing surveillance shower and late night check-ins (to prove he was sleeping), China felt honored to have so many nations, nations not in his family, care for his well being without needing anything in return other than his health. As he gripped his pillow, inhaling its clean rose scent and feeling its softness, he felt the need to give back their kindness. China slept peacefully that night, content with knowing that the battle was not to be fought alone.

There was an unexpected Plan C forming in the works. China only hoped Canada and his crew could wait for it to reach them, wherever they were.

He prayed America could wait as well - for all of them.

* * *

**A/N:** U.S. Department of State counted 196 countries, but i settled for a little over that considering how some aren't considered one in some parts of the world. Micro-nations and other minor provinces are obviously left out, so when China said 'nations' he meant_ their _kind. As far as this future world goes, i don't picture much changing politically aside from perhaps one or two female presidents, some unification here and there and random countries propping up on islands. Did Sealand become a country? In my opinion, no. But he remains a micro because i like the little twerp, and if his land were utilized properly it could be put to some use. At most the UK would use them as an official ally of sorts.

Do you know how long it took me to decide on which name to use for North Italy? _Too long_. I know he's called just Italy in the series, but i felt kinda bad because Romano is the big sibling so technically he should be called that (and then i spent an entire day philosophizing about Italian history because of this video i saw about Florence during the Renaissance). I settled for Veneciano, at least when I'm writing about him. When a nation refers to him i'll switch to just Italy. Romano will remain Romano.

I'm so sorry about the random Native America reference. I'm putting in way too many OCs in this, but i like the idea of her. In my opinion, there would be more than one, though. There were too many tribes to simply make one for ALL of the American continents.

Anyway, i want to apologize for not updating last week. I had tests. Next chapter should hopefully come out on time, if not sooner. Enjoy your little insight to the other nations not involved in our main story!

Yìdàlì - Italy in Chinese, according to Google Translate. It's grammatically incorrect and i apologize.


	15. Chapter 15 - America

To America's surprise, England had descended the large ship they'd been labeling the enemy with many other nations - majority of which threw the blonde off. In addition to the scone-making old man, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Belarus, Estonia, France, Spain, and Prussia accompanied the initial group of four, all sporting uniforms clearly inspired by a certain American sci-fi series (much to America's delight). He understood France, Japan, and Germany – but the others? Not the first nations he would have chosen for this mission. Hell, he suspected Belarus hated him, but then he recalled her infatuation with her brother and understood, questioning her presence no further. The others remained to pique his curiosity.

Upon their descent their expressions, hard and business oriented, had crumbled at the sight of a living America. England had almost slammed into the blonde like his brother minutes prior, only to come to his senses seconds before the impact.

America would have none of that, opting to break the stiff atmosphere by launching himself at every nation, laughing with joy at seeing his kind after so long. They all squirmed, but eventually succumbed to his show of affection, reciprocating genuinely. Unfortunately, their moment was cut short, seeing as Armin insisted they have a talk as soon as possible.

Now seated comfortably on multiple lounge couches and chairs separated by small tables, consuming food provided by the cooks and receiving treatment for the many blueish spots now marring once clear skin, the nations retold their journey to a very excited American, American crew, and equally interested alien leader.

Their arrangement, while awkward, settled into an unenthusiastic consensus rivaling that of the most uncomfortable tea party between rival politicians. Although neither party completely welcomed the other's company, doubtful of their every intention, they allowed peace for the moment. Their fight for dominance would have to wait until all facts were laid out neatly and bare for everyone to analyze.

To America, who was oblivious to any metaphorical battle happening in the room, it was story time. "Dude, that's boss. I totally caused world peace!" He cheered at the end of their tale.

Tired sighs left chapped lips (sans France, who carried lip balm). This was their America and, ultimately, their prize after persevering so many obstacles.

As much as they wished to complain about him, make snide remarks about his overzealous attitude or comment on his stupidity, seeing America unchanged even in his predicament warmed their hearts and eased their stress, glad that they'd not found the man crumbling under oppressive punishment or power after close to a year of what they assumed to be isolation. Instead, the American had lucked out; although, no one wanted to trust the Velrys leader just yet. The alien had saved their American, but he didn't look pleased to hear the nations' intent to retrieve him. If any one dared to guess, the alien's eyes had kindled with a slight glow of rage.

Armin clapped, his movements sly and graceful. "That is a wonderful story. I am sure America would like to return home as soon as possible," he spared a glance to the grinning America, who nodded his head ecstatically. Armin returned the grin before turning back to the others, the curve of his mouth never faltering. "But I am afraid we still have an alliance to sign off on. Now that more representatives from Earth are here, I am sure you would all like to participate in the final negotiations. If I may ask, what status of power do you all hold on your planet?"

Immediately, an unseen pressure descended on the nations. Their heartbeats sped to three times their normal rhythm at the abrupt question. In the past, the nations would mask their true identity by claiming some vague position in power. "I work for the governor," or "I am the president's close assistant," were the most common, but on occasion they would demote themselves to prevent further questions by announcing some generic position in the military. Would that excuse work here, though? They didn't know what America told the alien, so would it be wise to mask the truth or balance on the line between their cover ups and actual positions? How many should be of high status and how many mere workers? None of them had a clue; they'd never had to tweak the lie for a large group such as theirs.

"Majority of us are laborers. Only I and Mr. Canada here are of any high-standing position," England announced. Even if his words were complete lies, his face did not betray the words. The Briton thoroughly ignored the nasty looks from the other nations.

Armin nodded in approval, unsuspecting of the information. "I see. Then I will only need the both of you and Mr. America during the negotiations. The rest of you may join America's crew in the lounge."

Germany scowled. "Excuse us, but we would like to be involved as- ___mmff__!_"

"Is there a problem?"

"Not at all," Tony interjected. "This moron is just tired. Would your men be so kind as to show us where our resting quarters will be?" The alien ignored Germany's obvious discomfort. He didn't kick him ___that _hard. Besides, his actions were a proper distraction, since Armin didn't seem to notice the forceful sidetrack of their conversation.

Said alien narrowed his eyes in suspicion. As harmless as the other humans looked, this gray one named 'Tony' bothered him in more ways than one. Armin had suspected he was America's first introduction to extraterrestrial life, and was quite disappointed when he'd learned of America's ___other _alien friend. Their embrace back in the docking area had also stung a distinct nerve in his side. He would have to order his people to pay particular attention to this one.

Armin masked his reservations with a small smile. "Excellent! Then my guards will take you to your rooms. If you are still in need of sustenance, our diner is always open to guests. Eat as much as you want - I assure you it is delicious. America can vouch for me."

Distracted by Germany's earlier grunt of pain, America had zone out but quickly grinned at the mention of food. "Totally. It looks funny, but once you get over the appearance it tastes like melted heaven in your mouth. But...is it okay if we hold off on the treaty signing?"

Armin gave America a curious look. "Hold off?"

"Yes, maybe until a couple of hours? I really want to catch up with these guys, since I haven't seen them in so long. Please?" America clasped his hands in a pleading gesture.

During the exchange, Canada, Russia and Tony shared a look that confirmed they were both thinking the same: Why is America, the king of in your face and 'I do what I want!' attitude asking for ___permission_? Not even England could successfully pull a 'please' from the nation unless it involved food and hours of begging. Even then, that simple act had taken years to earn after his growth from a small child, not mere months.

While Canada and Russia looked on in disbelief, Tony fixed a knowing glare towards the two speaking.

Taking minimal time to consider it, Armin nodded his approval. "That will be fine, America. We may continue our negotiations after proper rest." While he wanted to spend as much time possible with the man before he left, Armin realized a meeting with the others present was not an ideal situation. America still owed him promised Earth sessions. He wouldn't mind postponing their negotiations if it meant his friend would stay longer; enough for him to have at least on more of their meetings alone. There was no harm in delaying the inevitable, so he might as well take what he could.

Unless he could keep America for much longer? Oh, many ideas formed in his head of how he could. They would remain in his mind, of course.

Armin stood from his chair and his guards immediately flanked his every side. America, used to the process, followed them eagerly. After so much action he could use a rest in that luxurious pod once their reunion ended. His crew made to catch up with their boss.

He strutted out and left his fellow nations where they stood, all of which gave a questioning glance at his retreating form. Figuring it was their only choice for the moment and preferring to appease rather than anger the irritated guards still awaiting their first steps by the opened doors, the group of wary nations formed a clustered triangle of bodies as they stepped behind the alien leader.

The walk was silent for the most part, America making most of the conversation. His crew nodded once in a while, as did Armin, but the nations suspected it was only to satisfy the babbling blonde than show a definite sign of their attention. Most of them were more preoccupied with observing the grand ship's interior. Tony hadn't been exaggerating when he spoke of this alien's wealth. Each hall they turned to shined almost a pure white with flecks of blue. The ceiling was high with simple decorative pillars supporting and dividing each wall into sections, while on each surface hung large, gorgeous paintings of lands they'd never imagined to be real.

France felt a pang of jealousy at their beauty, actually considering the talent used to create them surpassing that of Italy's most famous during the Renaissance. That thought would now be a secret to keep for the rest of his life.

At the next corner America and his crew split from the group. He stopped, noting Armin lead towards a different hall and raised a thin, blonde brow. "They're not rooming with me?"

Armin shook his head and smiled apologetically. "I have a room large enough for all of them to sleep together. It would seem better than to separate them, and saves effort moving everything to your room would require. Oh!" Realizing something, Armin turned to face the group. "I am afraid I do not have enough pods for you to sleep in, but if you'd like I can have my crew give you theirs."

"No!"

All eyes turned to Tony, who retracted from the incredulous attention. "Uh, I mean it's fine. These _humans _are still used to regular beds. You have those, right?"

"Of course. They are the most common way to sleep even for our kind, although I much prefer the pods," responded Armin, still a little baffled by the smaller alien's outburst. "Um, this way please," he said, deciding to ignore the strange behavior for now. America and his fellow Eartheans were not the only ones in need of a good rest. He could feel a burn from the still ongoing invasions in his land; It would only benefit him to retire for the time being after ensuring the comfort of the others. Even if he did not want them there, Armin had a reputation to uphold as the leader of one of the most renowned planets in the galaxy. He would not show his hostility unless pressured to.

While America's crew opted to sleep and left down the hall to their rooms, America followed Armin who led the group to a separate hall not far from America's chambers, although it still required about a five minute walk to reach. For the most part the white hall was empty save for decorative statues and occasional painting. The hall, meant especially for guests, was hardly if ever used and only had a living being inside during maintenance on the rooms.

One of the escorts opened the large double doors of the one they'd stopped in front of to show a room filled with queen beds, a circular transparent table with multiple chairs, and a large, circular window giving a massive view of the the outside. A long, marble wardrobe lined the east wall, big enough to hold twenty times a regular one's capacity. France practically squealed at the size, already imagining how much of his clothing would fit and still leave empty space.

Mouths agape, the nations eagerly entered their new sleeping chambers.

Germany and Japan eyed the wardrobe with France. It functioned like the ones they were accustomed to, although the options available were broader. The length of it required many separate doors, all of which were decorated with unknown jewels curled and bent to designs of what both nations assumed to be flowers if the similarities to the paintings outside were anything to go by.

Japan opened a drawer on the underside of the large furniture to find towels and robes. "Oh, thank heavens..." Germany rolled his eyes, although he, too, was glad that bathing supplies were provided. If the aliens wouldn't allow them to return to their ship before tomorrow - at least the blonde assumed to be tomorrow - then they had no choice but to wear their sweat-covered uniforms. He had no idea if aliens even bathed, or had showers on their ship so rinsing the grime from their bodies was impossible for now. The robes provided a great, cleaner alternative which the German was thankful for.

On the wall the beds touched, Russia, Belarus, Prussia, and Estonia stepped towards the window. Easily five times as tall as any of them (perhaps taller) the glass circle's clear image provided breathtaking views of whatever part of the galaxy they now resided. Russia couldn't help himself and uttered a soft, "It's beautiful," to which Prussia chuckled at. "It was annoying back on the ship, but I think it's pretty appropriate now," he said. Estonia smiled and gently flicked his glasses higher on his nose, enjoying their peaceful moment after the chaos experienced only hours before. Even if their host was untrustworthy, the Baltic could tell he was allowing peace for now and would gladly take the time to relax.

Opposite the window and west of the door, Spain and Sweden stood before a statue built into the wall of what looked like a woman in formal wear. She looked both enchanting and menacing, her long hair flowing from her body and a large, decorated spear gripped between long, slender fingers.

"Reminds you of home, eh?" He reminisced to the tall blonde. Sweden grunted in response, but said nothing, a single nod giving the only real response to the Spanish man. Spain didn't mind and merely grinned, his green gaze returning to the fine statue.

"Beautiful, is it not?"

The two males turned (jumped in Spain's case) to the smiling alien behind now them. They didn't even hear him walk! "O-oh, uh, yes!" Spain laughed. "Very beautiful. Reminds me of home a little. We have white statues like these too."

Armin's smile grew. "That is most interesting. This one in particular is famous for its story. I like to call it my planet's mother. One of my people imagined her up for me."

"It's very well made. What materials is it made out of?"

Stepping closer to the statue, Armin placed a gentle hand to one of the feet, trailing it down as if inspecting for mishaps. "Nothing you can find on Earth, from what America tells me of your planet. It is made of natural minerals from mine, mixed with the stardust to give it my home's signature shine. Quite expensive, but well worth it."

Spain and Sweden nodded in unison. Neither knew how to respond, seeing as they understood only the basics of the alien's planet. They shared a moment of silence before Armin gave them a strange look, waved, then walked away.

Relieved to be free of the tension, Spain sighed. The man appeared sincere but creepy at the same time to him. And what was with that look? He didn't seem angry, but his uniquely purple-blue eyes had glinted with something akin to curiosity and...Spain didn't know what. All he felt sure of was that it made him uneasy. With how Armin's pale, innocent features countered his mysterious attitude, the curly-brown haired nation understood all too well never to underestimate a person with white complexion.

Spain cast a short glance to Prussia, who was still admiring the view of the window.

He looked to the statue once more, appreciating the work one last time. For a woman, she was rather flat, Spain noticed. He concluded Armin's planet must have a thing for flat chests. Quite interesting, considering how much curves were revered for so long on Earth. He could not wait to learn more about the differences of their homes.

Back towards the entrance, Armin approached the four still standing to marvel at the room's entirety. America was rolling his head in every direction while Canada, Tony, and England quietly observed. At his approach, the group turned their attention to him. "Well, I must be going. I hope you all sleep well so that we may chat later. I have much to ask."

"We look forward to it," Canada agreed, offering a small smile. He tried to straighten his back in hopes of making a better presence. Even if his brother was here, Canada remained the one in charge of their mission and couldn't allow himself to be demeaned by him.

Armin returned the smile and proceeded to the door, exchanging nods with England. He stopped when Tony came to his view. The small gray thing was looking at him with large red eyes. His arms were crossed and he looked up at his taller form arrogantly.

Armin tried not to narrow his own pair, wishing desperately to feel some form of geniality towards his guest; America's ___friend_. Instead, his smile faded, turning into a neutral line that betrayed neither of his conflicting emotions. "We should talk sometime. I believe I have spoken to some of your planet's leaders on previous occasions. Charming fellows.

"I am also deeply interested in how you and America met."

"As am I with you," said Tony. The two aliens continued their standoff for a short few seconds when Armin grinned.

"Well, have a warming rest," he cheered as sweetly as he could. With a final wave he left along with his entourage of guards. The doors clicked to signal their closure.

Once behind closed doors, the barrage of repressed frustration began. Germany expressed his first.

"Why did you kick me?!" He glared menacingly at Tony, who sat back completely unfazed in one of the white beds.

"You were being a fucking idiot. We can't fight this guy until we know his game. Just agree with what he says for now and stop questioning me, dammit."

Germany growled under his breath and stormed off, Prussia following and cackling at his brother's misfortune, thankful that he hadn't been the target of Tony's alien wrath for once.

Japan spared a pitiful look at his friend, then focused his attention on the lounging alien instead. "I have to agree with Germany, though. We should be involved in whatever alliance is being formed between Earth and his planet."

Spain nodded. "Speaking of which, America: What did you offer in this alliance of yours?"

"Oh, well it was the basic stuff." America turned from the window. He'd been appreciating the view, since his room had no such decoration and was bare from wall to wall. He wondered if he could ask Armin to move him in with the other nations. The pod he slept in was great, but once he awoke to the room's eerie silence , it only left him cold and alone. "I mean that's what my boss wanted if I found intelligent life. They would not attack us, we won't attack them, we can share some info and trade goods...well, until we find out what Armin's planet can really give us." He shrugged. "It's all pretty new, so I just settled on getting the first steps done. Nothing really major – at least until my boss gets a look at it. I made sure not to involve your countries for the most part. All he can do is visit with your permission."

"And you were making these negotiations without our approval?" England accused.

"I didn't know you were coming! My ship was still being repaired. I had to go back with ___something _to prove I met aliens."

"While we are on that note," Estonia interrupted. "We want to know how much you have told this alien of our world, America. Does he...know?"

America fanned his hand and shook his head. "No way. With how much power he has and how powerless I am out here I couldn't risk it."

"Then there is some intelligence in that hamburger brain of yours." England smirked at his own clever insult.

"Bigger than your eyebrows but not as ugly."

"Oi!"

America laughed, as did Canada and a few others. Their talk had soothed to familiarity of the past. In that moment, no one felt like they've been separated for how long they'd been, and they weren't on an alien space ship discussion foreign relations with the captain. All they needed now were a couple of drinks and the scene would be perfect.

"You know," Prussia said from one of the beds. He made himself comfortable, stretching his limbs as far as they could go and groaning at the sweet release of his joints. "-those alien chicks aren't have bad. Did you see the one with purple hair? Quite the beaut, although missing a little in the noticeable assets category." The albino grinned, hands grabbing for breasts on his chest that weren't there.

France dipped his head once. "Oh I agree. Armin's women are quite elegant."

"_Si_. That statue is very beautiful as well. Our planets don't seem to be that different in that area," Spain agreed while pointing to the statue he and Armin had discussed.

America perked up. "Oh, that's something I should probably tell you guys: Armin's people have no gender."

"What?" Prussia stared wide-eyed.

"Yeah, apparently they just grow their junk whenever it's time to get busy. Any other time they are all basically the same down there. Armin is okay with me calling him a 'he' because of the language barrier, but everyone else will probably be clueless if you call them something gender-specific. Be careful about that. I pissed off about three people in the engineer room by calling them women or men because of their appearance."

While Prussia frenzied over his mistake, Russia became more attentive by the second. "That is most interesting. Now I am excited for our discussion tomorrow." He smiled. Their mission's plan was to simply rescue America and leave, but now they had a chance to learn about a completely different species living farther out into the unknowns of their galaxy. Russia wanted to learn everything he could before returning to Earth. Perhaps he could also convince his boss to fund more space programs from the evidence he brought, just like America. Thinking about it now, he realized how ingenious the idea was and grew new-found respect for the blonde twit.

Despite the growing enthusiasm, America slouched. He realized with slight aversion that something of dire importance had to be addressed. With all of these nations present, perhaps he could put an end to his burning suspicion. It was worth a shot.

"Um,about that...," he began, unsure of where he should start with his crazy accusations. When he didn't continue, the nations shared worried glances. America could tell they wanted to push him to talk, but he figured he'd beat them to it.

America plopped onto the one beds at the center. Tony joined him for support, and he silently thanked his long-time friend. "Okay, this may sound a liiiiitle crazy but you have to go with me on this. I think…he's – you know - one of us."

A soft silence.

Canada approached and sat next to him. He searched America's blue eyes for any form of amusement or sign that he was joking, but when he found none Canada narrowed his own violets. "Are you sure?"

America gave a lopsided grin. "Well, no - But! I have evidence that he might be."

"Which would be?"

America began, counting each piece of evidence on his fingers. "He's the leader, he is very old, and can feel when his planet is being attacked, just like us. Not only that, but there is some serious jazz going on with his people. They all follow him without any complaint."

"I believe that is called patriotism," said Japan. "Your country partakes in it very enthusiastically every fourth of July."

The blonde groaned. "No, man! I mean like they're ___zombies__. _Not the brain eating kind - no way I'd stay here if they were - but I mean the kind that are just brainwashed. Like, they're cool, but they follow him so passionately it's creepy. None of our citizens do that - well they do but they're way crazy and end up causing wars. His, though... according to the ones I talked with don't even know how Armin got appointed leader. It just happened unanimously because the people voted on it. No fights, arguments - anything. They just felt he was meant to rule. Be their god, or something. At least our citizens have a mind of their own and fight occasionally, but his follow him without any real point."

Now seated on a chair with his arms and legs crossed like one of his diplomats, England hummed to himself. "To be quite honest, that sounds heavenly. He's achieved world peace - something we haven't been able to for centuries."

Estonia gestured his agreement. This alien seemed to have it all worked out on his planet. World piece: something they'd spent hours debating around a wooden table unsuccessfully. Still ... "But if the possibly that he is a representative like us, do we tell of our true identities?" He said, his tone reflecting the grave words spoken.

America firmly pointed his index finger. "There's something else too. A while ago he told me the only reason he left his planet is to search for someone. It's not a specific person, but a ___type _of person. I'm thinking that assuming he ___is _a nation, he left to find people like him. Like us."

Tony let out a caustic snort. "So he isn't just out here on vacation like the other rich fat-asses. He has a goal in mind."

"Yeah, but from what he tells me it hasn't been successful so far. Well...until now, if all my guessing proves true. He just doesn't know it."

"It definitely is a reason to be cautious even more than before." Canada sighed, brushing blonde strands from his face. He adjusted his glasses and roamed his eyes across his crew of nations, all of which had sat down on a chair or one of the beds. "What do we do about this?"

"It is too risky to reveal anything if he is looking specifically for our kind," said Russia from the bed directly under the window, a deadpanned Belarus practically attached to his arm. "With so many of us here, we threaten the safety of Earth if anyone finds out what we are. Tell me America, what were you going to do should definite proof of the alien's identity reveal itself?"

The addressed nation slouched again and rubbed his neck. "To be honest, I was still thinking about it when you guys came. He's my friend and I wanted to tell him just to end his search, but it's all so risky. I still don't know."

Russia had to agree. He and many of the other nations understood the painful task of telling regular humans about their identity. Much of that effort was debating whether they should or not, and then the real pressure of telling them would cloud their thoughts the night before. The entirety of the pain from then on would depend solely on the human's reaction to their confession. Although many became closer, others went the opposite route and downright blinded themselves with insanity and conspiracy theories, sometimes selling the information tov dangerous private groups. They would be killed for breaking secrecy. Even if they became friends with their nation, that nation would have to watch them die anyway. There was no clear path to befriend someone not like them without grief.

"If you ask me," France began, "we just have different customs. Perhaps this is the way planets are run outside of our solar system."

"Not mine," Tony coughed.

"Well, alright, _some_. It certainly wouldn't be a new thing to have the opposite views in a different culture. As nations with our own cultures, it is our duty to accept that. We can not invade like we did in the past if we do not prefer their methods."

France was met with movements of agreement throughout the room.

He smiled, glad the others agreed with him. "I say we relax for now and forget these silly little wrinkle-makers called responsibility. These sleeping accommodations are very nice, and I am sure America wants to know how his country is doing."

America perked up at that. "Yeah! How's my land of the free? My boss miss me? I bet he does. Who wouldn't? Hahaha!"

It was automatic by that point. Each nation explained what was happening in their countries, while including details of America's. They explained how they questioned his likely death because of his country's growing wealth – to which America nearly fainted of happiness after hearing his debt to China and others had been completely repaid – and how Mexico, Molossia, Canada, and England jointed to begin their project to find him. America was excited to learn his brother had become so confident and basically come out of his shell.

From then on they talked about many things ranging from sports and recent celebrity gossip to smaller details of their journey. America cleared up any questions about Armin and his planet to the best of his ability and, wanting to see it in its full glory, promised to ask Armin if his crew would repair _the Nation_ like they did his ship before they left. America was sure it would need work after all the hits it had taken at the hands of Armin's crew– especially that one pod.

Canada hadn't been happy after finding out his own brother nearly killed him, but after nearly half an hour of hugs and begging, he'd forgiven the crying America on the grounds of many misunderstandings and America technically saving them in the end. Canada vowed revenge, though.

Eventually, the strain of past events got to them and they settled into their beds. America gave them a final farewell and made to return to his room, but Tony caught his jacket's sleeve. "America, can I talk to you?" He asked.

"Sure dude! What up?"

Tony dragged America out of the room and glanced around the hall. When positive they were alone, he pulled his now confused friend into a random room, glad but a little annoyed it wasn't even locked. What kind of man in power left their doors unlocked? A snobby one who was too confident in his ability, that's who.

The lights were off but a window, less grand than the one in their room, provided them with enough light to see each other in the darkness. "Have you been given any sort of weird medication or food?"

America cocked a brow and looked up, thinking over all the food he'd been provided with during his stay. "Um, not really? Not that I can think of. All the food here technically looks weird to me, but everything I ate I saw others eat as well so I guess it was okay. Why do you ask?"

"Because you ate a fair share of the food in the meeting room, but when I tasted that shit it nearly made me barf. I could tell the others didn't like it either."

"I have an iron stomach Tony, I thought you knew that!"

Tony ignored his claim. "Also, I've known you to be very individualistic, but that leader seems to be very comfortable using you for his benefit - almost like you're okay with being someone's fucking maid. You follow him like every one of his lackies."

"We're friends! Of course I'm okay with helping him out. I so do _not_ act like his lackies."

The light was more of an annoyance by this point, burning into each of their heads as they competed with each other for dominance in their argument. America was bent low to close the distance between them. He did not know why Tony was accusing him of being someone's bitch, but he didn't like it, no matter how used to his senseless bitterness.

Their silence was broken when Tony spoke again. "He mentioned a pod. Have you been sleeping in it, by any chance?"

"Yeah?" America said, unsure of why that held any importance. "Oh, man those things are comfortable! Wait until you get in one - "

"How long have you been sleeping in one?"

"Um, about a week since I've been here, I think."

Tony didn't speak for a short moment. He leaned up to get as close to the blonde's hearing range as possible and whispered, "...America, what ever you do do not return to that pod."

Confused, America straightened up. "What? Why?"

"They'll brainwash you."

"What?!"

Anticipating a freak out, Tony gripped the man's shoulders and bore his red eyes to the other's blue. "Look man, I didn't want to tell the others this because I knew they would freak out like you are doing now and cause a mess, so you have to keep it a fucking secret alright?"

America nodded frantically, his glasses threatening to fall from the force of his shaking head. "Hero's honor I won't tell. So what is this about brainwash?!"

Tony took a deep breath. "Those pods are specifically programmed to benefit the customer. The manufacturer sets it to fit the specific cells of whatever species is going to sleep in it."

"That doesn't sound bad..."

"It will when I tell you this: Considering Armin never intended to bring you aboard his ship, I'm assuming that pod he so graciously gave you is designed to accommodate those from Velrys, not Earth."

He waited for the information to sink in, but apparently America's talent in the sciences did nothing for him because all he received was blank look. Tony rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"America, that means you've been sleeping in something not intended for your body or DNA structure. Absorbing foreign chemicals that don't kill you, but enhance the body through means of connection. Don't you get it? If you or your country isn't dying, the chemicals aren't harming you, then that means they're morphing your cells, your DNA - everything that you were born with from Earth is being changed to that of the planet Velrys. It's why you're so okay with having Armin boss you around.

"Whatever spell he has on his people is now flowing through you as well - you're turning into his citizen!"

At the end of his speech, America's face paled and his eyes widened with the realization of what exactly that entailed for him. For his ___country_. "Oh shit...Not cool bro!"

"I know bro!"

America began to pace around the room, his eyes wide with panic. "Hell no! I can't turn into his citizen! I'm my own man, dammit! Do you know what I had to go through to win my independence? Prussia was a fucking slave driver, and France wouldn't stop trying to teach me the ways of love, and then Spain - well I guess he was okay, didn't see him much, but Mexico wouldn't stop complaining to me about him and - This can't happen. I am the United States of America! Land of the Free and Home of the Brave! Nobody's property and certainly not alien! I like my all American DNA!" America continued to rant, his voice increasing in volume with each frantic step and grip of his hair. Tony reached to grip his arm and make the man face him. Wide blue eyes stared horrified at Tony, and the alien almost felt bad for telling his friend he was being turned into an alien. Admittedly, that is not the smarted thing to tell someone easily afraid of horror movies.

"Listen to me man - I don't think he knows, but he might have some weird fetish for aliens and take the chance to completely make you his."

"But I'm not an alien!"

"You are to him and everyone else not from Earth, now listen!" Tony shook the frightened American. "We can't let him suspect anything, so take a cushion, a pillow, anything as a substitute for a bed. Just whatever you do, _DO NOT_ get into that pod."

"Can't I just sleep with you guys?"

Tony shook his head. "Not yet. In a few hours make up some shit about wanting a long-overdue sleep over, but you can't try and dodge his expectations yet. Sleep in the room he gave you, but don't get in that pod. Tomorrow you can warn your crew, but having all of you sleep on the floor will make him start asking questions so we can't save them yet."

Guilt tightened America's chest from hearing he would have to delay his crew's prevention from alien-transformation, but he understood Tony's reasoning. He only hoped their American blood could fight off the alien chemicals for a little longer. He nodded, calmer this time, and brushed his hair back. "Okay, I can do that."

"Good." Tony lifted a fist to which America gladly bumped with his own. "We'll finish that stupid alliance treaty thing and get the hell out of here. Then we can head back to Earth for some McDonald's!"

"Hell yeah!"

The two friends existed the empty room and split, each heading to their assigned sleeping quarters. The white of the halls had dimmed only slightly, and while it allowed no shadows, small crevices between each pillar held eyes that shined with blackened mirth under the false guise of white stardust.

* * *

**A/N**: This chapter is terrible; I have no idea how it ended up so long. Sorry you had to read that crap. Anyway, I don't believe it was ever confirmed nations feel it when their land is attacked. We just assumed because of the economy strip. Do correct me if i'm wrong.

I also don't know if anyone's noticed, but I've been on an idea train for the past month. My profile is a mess of plot summaries. BUT I WON'T GET TEMPTED... I'm totally lying. I already wrote two intro chapters to three of those stories, plus one i didn't mention because it's smut and really embarrassing and detailed (like 8k words long) and practice for when I have to write sex again. I feel both ashamed and accomplished because i wrote each in around thirty minutes at work. Inspiration does that to me.

Finally, updates may change to once every fortnight because of school. Beware next chapter: Creepy, awkward, sexual situation and the start of many...occurrences.


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